The Untold Story
by Jetboard Kid
Summary: I said I would and hear it is, this story is about what Damas' life was like before Baron Praxis took power. Hope you all like it. If you don't know how this will end you may be in for a shock
1. Chapter 1

**The Untold Story**

**By Jetboard kid**

**I own nothing, this is a fan fic. **

**Jet: Well I said I would do this- so here it is . This story is about Damas, Praxis and Molly who was mentioned in my first fan fic. This is them growing up. **

**Penny: Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaah! **

Chapter 1: The start of a friendship

A small girl ran out of the front of her house in the stadium section of Haven City. She was about five years old, she wore a light pink dress, a dress that almost covered her pink shoes, and had short puffy sleeves. It also had a ribbon that was a darker pink that went around her waist, her hair roots were green but as her hair got longer it turned blond; she wore it in pig tails. Even in pig tails her hair went just past her ears.

"Molly," a man called.

Molly turned around, "Yes papa?"

The man was tall and had short pale blue hair that cut off just before it reached his ears, he had on a white button down shirt, a tie that hung loose around his neck, and black pants that almost matched his shoes. The man walked up to her, "Stay close to home, alright? I don't want anything to happen to you. If you need anything you can call me at work."

"Yes papa." She said, hugging him, "Have a good day at work."

Her father kissed her and left, he didn't like leaving his little girl alone like this but since her mother had died he didn't have any choice; they were all each other had and- in his opinion- all they needed. But even with Molly being as smart as she is, being a single dad was hard.

Molly watched her father go and after he turned the corner she ran down the street; she loved her father, she really did, but he could be a little over protective. When he went to work she was free to do whatever she wanted. She went to the guard rail that prevented people from falling into the river; she grabbed it with one hand, closed her eyes and began to walk- never taking her hand away from the rail.

Meanwhile, just down the same street, two boys were up to something; one of them about seven and the other twelve. The older elf, a boy with neatly combed brown hair, brown eyes, a tight red shirt and brown pants along with combat boots, was tying a black bandana around the smaller elf's eyes. The younger elf had short white hair, with spiked bangs hung just above his violet eyes; his light brown shirt was baggy on him, his shorts where a darker brown and were also baggy on him.

The older elf laughed, "Damas, this has to be one of the stupidest things you've done." He said as he finished tying the bandana.

Damas also laughed, "I've done stupider things, Erick."

"So," Erick said, "Just to be clear, you are going to run down the street, blind right?"

"Yep." Damas said.

"Like I said… stupid."

With one last small laugh, Damas was running as fast as he could down the street not able to see where he was going, Erick running behind him. As Damas ran the people got out of the way so he didn't run into anyone, well almost, he did run into someone and he knew it was a person because he heard an 'OW!' He took off the bandana and saw a little girl with green-blond hair in pig tails and in a pink dress, sitting on the ground. "Sorry." Damas said, holding out his hand to help the girl up, she looked at him with ocean blue eyes.

"It's alright." She said, allowing him to help her up.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"Yes." She said.

Then Erick came up, "I told you, you would run into someone." He said, a gloating smile on his face.

"Whatever." Damas said then he looked back at the girl, "I'm Damas." he said, then he pointed at his friend, "and this is Erick."

"Hello, I'm Molly Groveback." The girl said, not realizing she was talking to the prince of Haven City. Then she looked around, "Uh-oh," she said.

"What's wrong?" Erick asked.

"My papa's going to get mad if he finds out that I'm this far away from home. It was nice meeting you two." She said as she walked away.

Damas ran up next to her, "If you want we could go to your house." He said.

Molly looked at the two boys and smiled. She'd never had friends to play with before, "Okay, C'mon." she lead them to her house.

They got to her house and sat on the steps, Damas looked at the house, "Nice place."

"Thanks, were do you live?" Molly asked. Damas and Erick looked at her confused and then at each other; they both fell over laughing, Erick fell off the stairs. "What's so funny?" Molly asked putting her hands on her hips.

Damas, still laughing, waved a hand at her, "It's nothing, I just thought everyone knows who I am."

Molly started laughing too, "Why? Who are you, the prince?" She waved her hands next to her head exaggeratedly.

Damas pulled out a string from under his shirt, on the end of it was the seal of Mar, the symbol of the royal family of Haven. Molly clapped her hands to her mouth, "Oh! I didn't know." She looked at her feet.

"You don't need to treat him any different," Erick said "He's still a kid like you."

Molly looked at Erick, "How old are you?" she asked, changing the subject.

Erick smiled, "I'm twelve." He said.

Molly looked at Damas, "Don't you hang out with any kids your own age?"

Damas rolled his eyes, "I'm seven, he's not that much older than me. What, we have to be the same age to be friends?" he asked, still laughing.

"Well I wasn't saying that, but he's older then you by like five years." Molly said.

"So?" Damas said, "How old are you?"

"I just turned five." She said.

"Hey, you're just two years younger than me." Damas said.

The three kids ran, played and talked all day but then it started to get late; Erick looked at Damas, "Come on, we need to get home before it gets dark."

Molly looked at them, frowning, "You guys have to go?"

Damas looked at her and smiled, "Don't worry, we'll come back. Then we can play more."

"Okay, my papa's not working tomorrow, you two can meet him."

"Yeah, and you can come to the palace and meet my mom and dad."

"Okay," she said as they walked away "I'll see you tomorrow." She went into her house and realized how hungry she was. She had skipped lunch and hadn't eaten anything since breakfast. She went into the kitchen and made herself a sandwich, and then she went up to her room put on her PJs, then sat in her chair to read.

Her father came home two hours later. He opened her door and found her curled up in her chair, asleep. He went over to her and picked her up and put her in her bed. He looked at her; his five year old daughter, he thought about how he was always working and how she was always alone. He hated himself for it, but what could he do? He kissed her forehead and thanked the Precursors that he didn't have to work tomorrow. He walked out of the room and went to bed himself.

Meanwhile at the palace, Damas was eating dinner with his parents, Alexander, a very tall man with violet eyes and dark violet hair which like Damas' had spiked bangs that hung just above his eyes. Then Selena, a tall woman -she was only a little shorter than her husband- with long white hair that went to the middle of her back, her eyes were a light brown. Seeing as this wasn't an _important_ dinner all three of them where dressed casually. Erick wasn't there, he knew that Damas liked to eat with his parents alone mostly because with them being the King and Queen of Haven he didn't get to spend as much time as he'd liked with them.

Selena smiled at her son, "So what did you and Erick do today?" she asked.

Damas looked at her, "Not much, we met this little girl named Molly when we were playing in the city."

"What is she like?" Alexander asked.

"She's nice." He looked at his plate, "I guess her dad works a lot because we played all day and I never saw him or her mom. Now that I think about it, she didn't even mention her mom."

"Well," Selena said, "I would like to meet her. Have her come here tomorrow, if you're going to see her, that is." She said, getting up.

"Okay mom." Damas said.

Now Alexander and Damas were alone, "So…" Alexander started, "how much trouble did you _really_ get into day?" Damas had a bad habit of getting himself and Erick into a lot of trouble. Once when he was five years old he had gotten himself into some real danger at the pumping station with a metal-head, but that kind of trouble was unusual. Usually he got himself in trouble because he and Erick were doing something stupid… like young boys always did.

"I didn't get into any trouble." Damas said, crossing his arms and slouching in his chair "I just played with Molly all day."

Alexander ruffled Damas' hair, "Well if this girl can keep you out of trouble then I like her already."

"Dad!" Damas said, laughing.

The next morning Molly woke up to the smell of pancakes, she got out of bed and ran downstairs and found her father cooking; he turned to her, "Morning." He said, using the pan to flip a pancake.

"Morning Papa." Molly said sitting at the table. Her father came over and put a pancake as big as her head onto her plate. Molly grabbed the butter and syrup and put them on her gimungus pancake; she cut a piece and put it in her mouth, "Mmmm! Papa, you make the best pancakes." He turned and smiled at her.

She finished eating and then she heard a knocking at the door. Molly went to see who it was, she opened the door and standing there was Damas and Erick. "What are you two doing here this early?"

"It's not that early." Damas said.

"I just got up, it's early." Molly said crossing her arms.

"Molly, who's at the door?"

"My friends, Papa." She looked back at them. "You two should come in."

Damas and Erick followed Molly to the kitchen. Mr. Groveback, turned and was surprised to have the prince in his house. "Molly… your friend has a shocking resemblance to the prince…" He said, not really wanting to accept this reality.

All three of the kids laughed, "Papa, he is the prince." Molly said putting her arm on Damas' shoulder in a buddy-buddy fashion. Damas looked at her and smiled. Erick tapped the back of Damas' head, he and Molly looked at him and Erick started to make "kissy" faces. Both Molly and Damas looked at him in disgust; However, Mr. Groveback looked at Erick. "What?" Erick said confused.

"How old are you, boy?"

Erick looked at him; he didn't liked being spoken to like a child, "I'm twelve."

"Why do you hang out with little kids?"

"Because someone has to keep an eye on the prince and because Damas is my best friend."

Mr. Groveback looked back to where Damas and Molly were but Molly was gone, "Where's Molly?"

"She said she was going to get dressed." Damas said.

Not long later Molly came down; she was in another pink dress and her hair was back in pig tails. Damas' rolled his eyes, "Do you wear anything that isn't a dress, or pink?"

"No." Molly said simply.

Then the phone rang, Mr. Groveback answered it, "Hello?" He said, the three kids looked at him. He hit the counter with his fist, "**What do you mean you need me to come in? Are you really that incompetent?**" He paused as the man on the other end talked. "**Fine, I'm on my way, but you better warn everyone that someone is losing their job. And that is a promise.**" He hung up the phone and looked at Molly.

She was looking at her feet, "You have to go to work, don't you?" She said.

He walked over to her and hugged her, "I'm sorry."

"It's okay papa. Damas, Erick and I can just play here."

"Or we could go to the palace." Damas said, "My mom said I should bring you there today anyway. My parents want to meet you."

Molly looked at her father, "Papa, can I go?"

Mr. Groveback looked at Erick, "Will you make sure she comes home before it gets dark?"

"No problem." Erick said.

"Then I guess you can go, just be a good girl."

"Yes papa." She said. He watched her leave with Damas and Erick. The three kids walked, "So, what are your parents like?" Molly asked.

"Don't worry, you'll like them. I told them about you last night."

"But we only met yesterday; you don't really know anything about me."

"So, I told them what I did know."

"Which wasn't much." Erick said, Damas punched him.

They got to the palace and went up the elevator; Molly grabbed Damas' arm when it took them up at ridiculous speed. When it finally stopped, Molly was the first one off, "That was the fastest elevator I've ever been on." She said.

"It has to be." Erick said, as he and Damas got off the elevator.

"Why?"

"Come on," Damas said, "I'll show you."

They began to walk down the hall; they walked passed a giant set of doors, "What's in there?" Molly asked.

"That's the throne room; I don't really go in there anymore." Damas said, walking right past the doors.

They went to a door in another part of the palace; Damas opened the door and Molly found herself in a garden, with all different types of plants, there were many different color flowers and so many different plants that Molly didn't know the names of. There was one group of plants that did get the young she-elf's attention. They were tall, much taller than her; at the top they were dark purple and had what almost looked like teeth. They all were moving up and down, all on their own. Molly reached out to touch one but pulled her hand back quickly when it tried to bite her, "What are those things?" She exclaimed.

"There just fly traps."

"No, fly traps are small and fit in a tiny pot! These are huge and one of them tried to bite me!"

Damas and Erick started to laugh, and Molly glared at them. Then a women's voice came, Damas looked over at her, she was holding a big plate of what looked like raw meat, "Hi mom, what's with the meat?" he asked.

"It's for the traps." She said, setting the plate on the ground. She picked up a slab of meat and tossed it at the plants, they all bent down and then snapped back up in an attempt to get it. One of them caught it, chewed it a couple of times, then swallowed. Damas, Erick and Molly came over, Selena looked down at the little girl, "Hello, you must be Molly, right?"

"Um, yes." Molly said, she was a little taken back by the queen of Haven City addressing her.

She gave a small bow out of respect. Selena laughed, "So, do you three want to help me with my garden?" she asked.

"I'm good," Erick said, "I don't have much of a green thumb."

Molly looked at her thumb, "Neither do I."

Damas laughed, "No Molly, he just means that he's not very good with plants."

"Oh" Molly said, a little embarrassed. "Then I guess I can help."

"Me too." Damas said as he picked up a slab of meat and tossed it to the plants.

Molly picked up a slab and took it over to the plant that had tried to bite her and held it out to the plant with shaking hands. The plant made a sniffing movement then snapped at the meat, ripping it out of Molly's hand. She pulled her hands back; Selena came over and stood next to Molly. The plant bent down, "I don't have any more."

"Molly it just wants you to pet it." Selena said.

Molly looked up at her, "But it might bite me."

Selena laughed, "They won't bite the hand that feeds them."

Molly reached out a shaking hand and patted the plant, "It's soft." She said.

"Mom," Damas said, Selena looked over at him, "the meat's all gone."

"Okay, do you want to help me with the rest of the garden?"

"No thanks." He said, going to stand next to Erick, who was leaning on a wall.

Selena shook her head and looked back at Molly, "I can only ever get him to help me with feeding the flytraps."

"I'll help you." Molly said.

"Well that's very sweet of you." So Selena showed Molly how to take care of the garden.

When they were done, Damas went over to Molly, "Come on, I want to show you something." He said.

They walked over to the barrier, Molly looked over it, "Wow, were up so high." She said.

"Yeah, I know." Damas said as he climbed up onto it.

Molly gasped, "Damas get down, you could fall!" She cried.

"I'll be alright." He assured her.

But his mother looked over, "Damas Mar, you get off that this instant!" she yelled.

He got down and looked at Molly, "So um, do you want to see the rest of the palace?" He asked, not daring to look at his mother.

"Okay." She said.

"Hey Erick, come on." Damas called and then the three of them left. Damas and Erick showed Molly all around the palace. Around lunch, the three of them went down to the kitchens. There they found Alexander just finishing his lunch, "Hi dad." Damas said.

Alexander looked up, "Hi." He said and then his eyes found Molly. She hid behind Damas, Alexander laughed, "I still see you." He said.

Damas moved so Molly wasn't right behind him, "This is Molly." He said.

Molly went bright red, "Hello." She whispered.

Alexander got up and walked over to them, "So, what are you three up to?" he asked.

"Nothing really." Erick said casually.

"_Really_?" Alexander said, smiling at him. Erick's ears dropped slightly, whenever the king looked at him like that it usually meant he was going to have to do chores. Alexander walked over to the closet and grabbed a broom and handed it to Erick with a smile that said 'get to work.' Erick took to broom without complaining and started to sweep the floor.

Damas walked up to his father, "Why do you do that?" he asked.

Alexander looked down at his son smiling, "He's the one that said he wasn't doing anything." Then he looked at the clock, "Well, I have to go." He ruffled Damas' hair and left.

After he left, Erick put the broom down, "Okay, let's get some lunch, I'm hungry."

Molly looked at him, "You're not going to do finish?" she asked.

"I will, I just want to eat first."

"No kidding." Damas said as he climbed onto the counter to get a plate- since he's too short for his age to reach up and grab one. Erick went to the fridge and got out stuff to make sandwiches; he set it on the counter as Damas jumped down, "Hey Molly, the bread's in that cupboard," he pointed to the cupboard she was standing next to.

The three of them made sandwiches for themselves. Damas looked over at Molly, "What?" she asked.

"Nothing." He said.

"Well it has to be something."

"No, it's nothing." He said.

"Okay." Molly said, starting to eat. After they were done eating Molly and Damas started to walk around the palace again while Erick finished sweeping the kitchen. "So, why did your dad make Erick sweep anyway?" she asked.

Damas laughed, "Because he said he wasn't doing anything."

"So your dad made him work?"

"Yep." Damas said, "Little tip, don't ever tell my dad you have nothing to do because he will find you something to do and believe me, it won't be fun."

"Thanks for the tip."

"What about your dad?"

"He would rather I didn't do anything. He likes to see me happy, that's why he works so hard and so much… he's not home much."

"What about your mom?" Damas asked, Molly looked at him with slight confusion. "Well it's just that I met you yesterday and I don't think I saw her."

Molly looked at the floor, "Well you wouldn't, I- I don't have a mom."

"You have to have a mom somewhere," Damas said, "everyone does."

"Not me. She died about two years ago." She suppressed a sob.

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay," she whispered, "I don't really remember her anymore; I can't even remember what her voice sounded like. So it's been me and papa."

"But you said he's always working." Damas pointed out.

"I don't get to spend much time with him."

"So what do you do all day?" he asked.

"I play by myself."

"You don't have any other friends?"

"No," she looked at him, "you and Erick are the only friends I've ever had."

Damas looked at her, "Well, if you ever need us you can always come here, and we can do whatever you want."

"Thanks." She said.

It was getting late so Erick took Molly home; when she got home she found the door locked, she picked up the mat and pulled out a key and unlocked the door. She waved bye to Erick and went inside, thinking about how she had the best day ever.

**Jet: WOW! There was a lot to go into this chapter. Just in case anyone didn't figure it out Erick is the guy who grows up to be Baron Praxis. **

**Penny: What?**

**Jet: Not much to say here but TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK and I'll see you next time.**

**Penny: That's it! You're not going to say anything else about this?**

**Jet( Walking away.) **


	2. Erick's Mistake

Chapter 2: Erick's mistake

**Jet: Time for a recap.**

**Penny: Did someone tell you that they liked them or are you just doing this because you like them?**

**Jet: One person said they liked them and that's enough for me. So in the first chapter, We met Molly, a little girl, who if you don't know who she's going to be, then… I really don't know what to tell you. We also see Damas as a kid; no spikes on his head, no armor, no gun staff… just a little boy with white hair. We also met his best friend Erick Praxis. Yep, Damas' best friend is the guy who will eventually betray him. But for now he is a twelve year old boy with both of his eyes. The two of them met Molly and the three of them become friends. Molly's father is always working so she goes with Damas and Erick to the palace and meets his parents. She meets his mother in her garden and helps her out with it. I wonder: did anyone see my Crash Bandicoot reference with the fly traps? Anyway, Molly meets Damas' father really just in passing. Then Damas and Molly walk around the palace and she tells him what her life is like. He tells her that she is always welcomed if she ever needs him. Well, that just about covers it, let's get on with the story.**

Four years had gone by since Molly met Damas and Erick, and the three kids grew closer as friends every day. Molly didn't have her hair in pig tails anymore, she just had it down and tucked behind her ears; she still wore dresses every day though. Damas and Erick didn't really change all that much. The three of them spent most of their time at the palace or running around the city. Damas was now eleven years old and didn't really need Erick watching him but he still got himself into all kinds of trouble so Erick still kept an eye on him. One day, the three of them were sitting around the palace just having a lazy afternoon, but that was not what Damas wanted.

He stood next to a window looking down at the city, trying to think of something to do. He looked at Erick and Molly, "Hey guys," Damas said, both of them looked at him, "did you hear about the robbery at the museum last week?"

"Who didn't?" Molly asked, "I heard the guards found five dead bodies all looking like they drowned. They said that all five of the men matched the men on the tape of the robbery."

"You'd think it would take more than five people to move that statue." Erick said.

"I know." Damas said.

Molly looked at Damas, a little worried, "Why did you bring that up?"

Damas walked over to them, "I been thinking, the night the museum was robbed there was a huge storm right?"

"Yeah…" Erick and Molly said nervously.

"And the robbers all drowned right?"

"What are you getting at?" Erick asked.

"Well, what if they never got the statue out of the city? What if it's down in the sewers?" Damas said, a growing interest forming in his eyes.

Erick looked at him, "This wouldn't have anything to do with the fact that the statue was of your famous ancestor, would it?"

"Well… um, no." He said quickly.

"Oh no." Molly said, covering her eyes with one hand, "Damas not another crazy adventure. The last one almost got us killed."

Damas crossed his arms, "It did not, and my '_adventures_' are not 'crazy'."

"They're not for the sane either." Erick added.

Damas glared at him, "Name me one time we got ourselves in _real_ trouble."

"You mean the times **you**got us into trouble?Well, there was that time last winter, when you thought it would be fun to go ice skating at the port even though your mother told us not to." Molly said. This made Damas shiver; he had been the one who had fallen through the ice, seeing as he was the only one who tried to ice skate.

"And who could forget the time when you got me to teach you how to drive?" Erick added.

Damas laughed at this, "Yeah, you are not a good teacher."

Erick went red, "Well –"

"And not to mention," Molly said, seeing that Damas was trying to change the subject, "last week when you made us go to the forest and **what** did we find there?" She asked, glaring at him, "**Metal-heads!**"

"It's not like they saw us. We got out of there okay." Damas said. "It's not like there are any Metal-heads in the sewers, right?"

Molly glared at him and crossed her arms, "I'm putting my foot down this time, I'm **not** going into the sewers."

Damas smiled evilly, "Why? Are you scared or something?"

"Yes. Plus this is a new dress, and my papa will not be happy if I come home smelling like a sewer."

"Fine, you don't have to come if you don't want to. Erick and I can go." Damas said. If Erick came then Molly would come, she hated being left out.

Erick looked at Damas, "Um… I don't want to go down there either."

Damas looked at him, confused, "Don't tell me you're scared too!"

"What! No!" Erick said, "I have a date tonight and I don't want to smell like a sewer either."

"Is it the same girl you've been seeing for over a year?" Molly asked.

"Yeah…" Erick answered. Damas rolled his eyes. "What?" Erick asked.

"Every night for the last year you've been seeing her. I don't even think I've met her. What do you two do anyways?"

"Things you're too young to know about." Erick said. Both Molly and Damas looked at him confused, with innocent blinking. "My point proven." He looked at the clock on the wall- three o'clock, "Well I better get ready, I'm picking her up at six." And with that, he left.

Molly looked at Damas, "What do you think he meant by 'we're too young to know'?"

"I don't know. So what do you want to do?" He asked.

"I don't know." She said, going to look out the window. "It must be nice being royal." She said.

Damas came to stand next to her, "What do you mean?" he asked.

"Well, you get to do whatever you want, and your parents are always home."

Damas looked at her, "Your dad's still working late?" he asked.

"Yeah."

He looked back out the window, "You know, my parents might always be home but that doesn't mean I always get to see them." Molly looked at him. "I understand that we're in the middle of a war and I know that I'm going to have to do the same thing some day. But I sometimes wish that we could be a normal family."

Molly put her hand on his back, he looked at her, "I wish I could have a normal family too… I wish I had a mom." She said.

"Well if anything; you've got my mom, she likes you and my dad does too." Molly smiled, as did Damas, "Come on, let's go have some fun."

"Not another one of you crazy ideas." She said.

"No, it wouldn't be any fun without Erick."

So the two of them went off to have some fun by themselves. When Erick left for his date he took Molly home, now Damas was alone so he went to find his parents. He found his dad in a room reading. Alexander looked up from his book, "Both your friends leave?" he asked.

"Yeah." Damas said, looking at his father, "Hey dad, what do teenagers do on dates?" He asked.

"Why?" The King cocked a brow.

"Well earlier today I asked Erick what he did with his girlfriend and he told me I was too young to know. What do teenagers do when they get together at night?"

Alexander looked at his eleven year old son with almost no idea what to tell him, "Well… responsible young men at Erick's age, usually take young women out to dinner or to a movie or a _moon lit stroll_."

"And what about the irresponsible ones?" Damas asked.

Alexander scratched the back of his head, not really knowing what to tell him, "Well um… Why don't we go see if dinner is ready?" He said, getting up. Damas followed him.

When they got downstairs they found Selena already eating. She looked at them, "Hi boys, what took you?" She asked.

Damas went to sit next to his mother, "No one told us dinner was ready." He began to cut into the yak-cow stake that was on his plate.

Selena looked at her husband who hadn't moved, "Al, is something wrong?" She asked, very concerned by his expression.

"Selena, I need to talk to you alone."

She rolled her eyes, "Can this wait until after dinner?" She asked.

"I would rather it didn't."

"Does this have anything to do with the Metal-heads?" She asked, hoping it wasn't Metal-heads.

"What? No, no it's nothing like that."

"Then it can wait. Come and eat."

Alexander came over and sat on the Damas' other side. Damas looked at him, "So dad, you never answered my question. What do irresponsible teenagers do on dates?"

Alexander looked at his son, "I'll tell you later." He said.

Selena looked at him, trying not to smile, "Is that what you wanted to talk to me about?" She asked. Alexander went bright red. Selena shook her head, "You might as well tell him." She said.

"Tell me what?" Damas asked.

Alexander looked at his wife, "Are you kidding me?" He asked.

"Al, he's eleven now. You can't put that conversation off much longer."

"Tell me what?" Damas asked again. Alexander looked at his son and not really wanting to say this out loud, he whispered in his ear. The whole time Damas' face became more and more disturbed. Selena couldn't help but laugh at her son's face. When Alexander was done explaining Damas looked at him, "Why do people do that?" He asked, downright disturbed by the world he was in.

"Well mostly only people who are **married** do that." Alexander said, glad that the awkward part of the conversation was over.

"Why?" Damas asked. Not really understanding.

Selena looked over at him, "Well your father and I did it because we wanted a child, we wanted you. But teenagers do it because they don't really understand or care about what could happen..."

"Wait. Are you saying… that's where babies come from?" Damas shrieked.

"Yeah." Alexander said. Now he was kinda enjoying this…

"So… that's where I…" He went pale. "Can I be excused?" He squeaked. Not waiting for an answer, he left and went to lay face down on his bed for the rest of the night.

Alexander and Selena couldn't help but laugh after Damas left, "So," Selena started, going back to eating, "what brought that up anyway?" she asked. The smile fell from Alexander's face, "Al, what is it?"

"Erick. I'm a little concerned about what he is doing with his girlfriend."

"Why?"

"Because, apparently when Damas asked him what he did with his girl friend he told Damas that he was too young to know."

"Al, do you really think that he's doing that…?"

"What else could he have meant?"

Selena shook her head, "You don't think that maybe he just wants a little privacy? Maybe he told Damas that so he would leave him alone."

"Maybe, but I'm still going to talk to him about this tomorrow."

"Okay, but what are we going to do if he really is… you know?"

Alexander put his face in his hand, "I don't know." He looked at his wife, "Maybe we should just send him to the Guard Academy."

"Al—"

"Think about it, he's sixteen and all he has done is watch Damas. At this rate he will have no future. There are some kids his age that are in city troops."

"And what if, Precursors forbid- that he and this girl have a child? What do we do then?"

"Wouldn't the child stay with its mother?"

"Not if she doesn't want it."

Alexander didn't say anything for a little while. "We'll cross that bridge when we get there." And with that, the subject was dropped.

Erick came home the next day, looking half dead. He was going to be in big trouble and he knew it. He found Damas and Molly in the room they were in the day before, laughing about who knew what. Damas looked up and saw him, "Hey Erick." But then he went pale remembering what he had talked about with his parents last night and looked away.

Molly looked at both of them and didn't get what was wrong with either of them, "What's with you two?" She asked.

Neither of the boys answered her, instead Erick looked at Damas, "Where's your dad?" he asked in a dead tone, "I need to talk to him."

"I don't know, try his study."

"Thanks." And he left.

Molly looked at Damas who was still a little pale, "Are you okay?" she asked.

"I don't want to talk about it." He said.

"Okay." She said. Then she pushed him a little.

He looked at her, "What was that for?" He asked. She stuck her tongue out at him and started to run away. He followed her, laughing.

Erick did find Alexander in his study alone. He knocked on the door, "Yes," Alexander said. Erick opened the door and walked in, "Oh Erick, good, I wanted to talk to you."

Erick walked up to Alexander's desk, "There's something I need to talk to you about first." Alexander looked at him. Erick looked down, he couldn't look Alexander in the eye, "I – I made the worst mistake I could have ever made." He said. Alexander just sat there quietly, letting Erick talk, "The last few weeks my girlfriend and I… we've been doing things we both knew we shouldn't and last night she told me that she's…" Erick paused, how could he tell this to the man that had been like a father to him? But he had to tell him; "she's pregnant."

Alexander didn't yell, he didn't even seem angry, he just sighed, "Erick, I don't think I need to tell you how disappointed I am about this." Erick didn't look up, "But I am glad that you came and told me rather than trying to hide this. Do her parents know?"

"No, she's going to tell them tonight." Erick looked up, "I don't know what to do. I tried to convince her to get rid of it but she's against abortion and she doesn't even want it."

"And what about you, do you want it?"

"I don't know."

Alexander, sighed, "Well I think if she doesn't want the kid then you should take it."

"What? Why? "

"You know what you did was wrong and you want to do the right thing, right? That's why you came and told me."

"Yes, but I'm sixteen. I made a mistake—"

"And you have to live with that. If she doesn't want the baby then you will be taking it. This baby is _not_ going to disappear and _should_ be left with one of the parents. Is that clear?"

Erick hung his head, "Yes sir."

He turned to leave, "Oh Erick, one more thing," he turned to look at him, "Tomorrow you are starting at the Guard Academy." Erick didn't say anything he just left, accepting _that_ as his punishment than something a regular king could dish out.

The next nine mouths were not easy on Erick, with the Academy taking up most of his time and his girlfriend blaming him for everything; but the worst of it was most likely his best friend yelling at him about what he had done would change everything and nothing would ever be the same. At least Molly was trying to be supportive. But eventually the inevitable did happen and Erick was there to see his now ex-girlfriend give birth to a healthy baby girl with a small patch of red hair on the top of her head… a baby that she wanted nothing to do with. So now Erick was a father, and the first time he held his daughter he realized that it didn't matter that his ex-girlfriend didn't want the baby or that she never wanted to see him again… because he loved his daughter. The day after she had given birth she left and Erick never saw her again. He took his daughter home, when he got there: Alexander, Selena, Molly and Damas were waiting for him. Molly couldn't keep all her joy to herself, she was happy for Erick but Damas was the opposite; he felt like now Erick didn't even care about him. They had grown up like brothers and now _this_. Alexander and Selena just looked happy for Erick. Proud that he had taken responsibility for the baby.

"What's her name?" Molly asked.

"I decided to name her Ashelin." Erick said, not wanting to look away from his sleeping baby.

"Where did you get that name?" Damas asked.

Erick looked at him, "It was my mother's name." Damas just glared at his friend, "Damas, look, I don't care what you think, okay? This is reality, I have a daughter now and you're just a twelve year old boy."

"Guys!" Molly said, "Don't." She looked at Damas, "Damas you knew that things weren't going to stay the way they were forever. You knew that things were going to have to change. Stop being such a spoiled jerk."

Damas glared at her but she glared back. Damas sighed, "You're right." He said, then he looked back at Erick, "Look, I'm sorry." He said.

Erick smiled, "Me too."

Molly smiled, "Great, now that we got that sorted out," she looked at Erick, "can I hold the baby?" She asked.

Erick looked at the nine year old and smiled, "Okay," he said, handing Ashelin to her, "but be careful with her okay?"

Damas came over and looked at the little baby, "She is kinda cute, I guess." He said. Ashelin opened her eyes and looked up at Damas and Molly.

Molly couldn't help but squeal, "Oh, look at her cute green eyes." Everyone laughed.

**Jet: Well that's the end of the chapter.**

**Penny: So… Baron Praxis, the evil tyrant form Jak 2 loved his daughter?**

**Jet: He's not evil yet, he's sixteen.**

**Penny: Okay, but don't you think the start of the chapter was a bit of a stretch?**

**Jet: A little- yes, but I wanted to push the fact that as a kid Damas is a little reckless and curious and will try to drag his friends into crazy thinks like another hero we all know.**

**Jak: What am I doing here?**

**Jet: We were just talking about you.**

**Jak: I'm out of here.**

**Jet: Bye Jak. Well Reader, tell me what you think about this part and if you don't know by now that I love to hear your comments well now you do, so tell me. Keep an eye out for chapter 3.**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Daughter to Father

**Jet: Well, it's time to recap the last chapter. Okay so, that robbery that Krew talked about in Jak 2 apparently happened when Damas was eleven. Just go with me on this. So Damas wants Molly and Erick to go with him down into the sewers and see if they can find it. But it seems Molly and Erick don't want to go down there; Molly doesn't want to go because she doesn't want to get her new dress dirty, Erick doesn't want to go because he had a date and both of them don't want to smell like a sewer, so they don't go. Damas asked Erick what he and his girlfriend do on their dates and Erick tells him that he is too young to know. So when Erick leaves for his date he takes Molly home and Damas goes and finds his dad and asked him 'what do teens do on dates?' Alexander tries to avoid this and they go down to dinner, where they find Selena. She finds out what was going on and Alexander has '**_**the talk**_**' with Damas- and Damas skips out on dinner. The next day, Erick goes to Alexander and tells him that he got his girlfriend pregnant. Over all, Alexander takes it pretty well and makes Erick take responsibility for the baby. So after nine mouths Ashelin comes into the story and her mother will never be talked about again… maybe. Now back to the story.**

Three years later Molly woke to the sound of her father screaming at the T.V. downstairs. Apparently the morning news told him something he didn't like. She got out of bed and went to her desk and stated to brush out her hair. As she brushed, she found her eyes wandering to the pictures that were stuck on her mirror: one of them was of her, Damas and Erick. That was taken the year she had met them. In the photograph Erick had Damas in a headlock and Molly was on Erick's back. All three of them where smiling and laughing. Molly looked at her five year old self and then looked in the mirror, she was so different now: for example, she didn't wear dresses anymore now she wore a white bell-show tang top and blue jeans with brown combat boots (to her father's dismay) and she left her hair down instead of in pig tails, she still showed off her green roots.

Molly looked away from the picture and looked at another. This one was taken when she was two and it was just of her and her mother. Even as a toddler Molly looked identical to her mother: same eyes same hair, same ears. Her father also said that she acted like her too, but Molly couldn't remember anything about her mother. All she had was that picture. She looked away and finished brushing her hair. When she was done, she got dressed. Then she quickly went downstairs, she almost got to the door before her father stopped her.

"Molly, where are you going?" He asked.

She looked at him, time hadn't only changed her but him as well: Mr. Groveback's hair was becoming a much paler blue then it use to be and it seemed the lack of sleep over the years was starting to catch up to him. "I was going to the palace." She said.

Mr. Groveback looked a little hurt, "But I thought we were going to spend the day together."

Molly felt bad about the hurt in her father's eyes, "Oh papa, I'm sorry but it's Ashelin's birthday. I have to go."

"She's turning three, right? She's not going to know you're not there."

"Yes she will. I have to go." She opened the door, "I'm sorry." And with that she left.

She went to the palace, when she got there she showed her security pass, which was almost unnecessary seeing as she was there every day. She got in and found Damas and Erick in one of the sitting rooms, "Morning boys." She said.

Both of them looked at her, "Hi Molly." Damas said. He walked over to her. She thought back to that picture, he was different too. For one, he didn't really wear baggy clothes any more although all his clothes were still brown and tan- sandy colors. For some odd reason the color worked for him. His shirt barely had sleeves and his pants were a little baggy but he tucked the bottoms of them into his combat boots. His hair wasn't all that different, in all reality in the last eight years it looked like it had grown just a little, the end of it hung just under his ears. But the biggest change in his looks was how tall he was, he and Molly use to be about the same, but now he was taller than her by about half a foot, "What took you?" He asked.

Molly put her hands on her hips, "Don't act like it took me all day to get here." She looked around, "Where's Ashelin?" She asked.

"Still sleeping I think." Erick said, also walking up to them. Erick was now in his final year at the Academy. He was different too, he was eighteen now and did he look it, he was tall, still taller than Damas by a long shot. He was more muscle than anything. He was also starting to grow facial hair which Molly was trying to talk him out of. But aside from that he didn't really look all that different. The three of them talked and then the little pattering of small foot steeps came down the hall and then a small girl with short red hair ran into the room smiling and laughing, still in her night gown. Ashelin ran to Erick and he picked her up. "Morning birthday girl."

"Morning!" She said, wrapping her small arms around his neck.

"Do you know what day it is?" Erick asked.

"My day." She said, laughing. Erick smiled, kissed her and put her down. She looked at Damas and Molly, "Hi Uncle Damas. Hi Aunt Molly." She gave both of them a hug.

Then she started to run off, "Ashelin," the three year old stopped and looked back at her father, "where are you going?"

"No where…" She said, and then she ran off, the father and figurative uncle and aunt let her go. She walked around the palace until she came to a door. It looked like any other door in the palace; she opened it and saw Alexander sitting at his desk.

He looked up from what he was working on and smiled, "Well, hello." He said. "What are you doing here?"

Ashelin ran over to him and reached up at him, "Grandpa." She said. It only seemed fitting that she think that he and Selena were her grandparents, see as they had raised Erick as their own since he was seven.

He picked her up and set her on his lap, "So what are you doing here?" He asked again.

"It's my day." She said. She tugged on his shirt, "Play." She said.

"I have to work right now." He said. "I can't play right now." He put her down.

She tugged on his pant leg, "Play." She said, a little sad. Alexander looked at her and was about to tell her he couldn't when Selena walked in completely taking Ashelin's attention. The smile returned to the little girl's face, "Grandma." She said, running over to her.

Selena picked Ashelin up, "Happy Birthday." She said. Then she looked at her husband, and under stood that he needed to work. She took Ashelin out and shut the door.

Alexander looked back at the many papers on his desk. Several scout reports told him that Metal-Head troops were moving closer to the city every day. Another told him that the amount of eco in the city was dropping fast. Every year it seemed like there was less and less eco. Eco kept the shield wall up and the Metal-Heads out, but if something wasn't done soon the shield would fall and the city would be at the mercy of the Metal-Heads. But he had a plan: if he could make the city's border smaller then the wall would take less eco to run… but what part of the city would he have to cut off? Of course he would see to it that the people in that area would be moved but there was still the matter of choosing a spot. The more he thought the more he started to see that there was only one spot in the whole city that he could do this. The oldest part of the city, the part where the old sages hut still stood as a land mark to the village that was once there.

Ashelin spent most of the day playing with Erick, Damas and Molly. After lunch they had a little birthday cake. It seemed Ashelin was more into playing with the cake rather than eating it. Damas looked at the little girl, "You know," he said, getting her attention, "It's better if you eat it."

Ashelin smiled and picked some up with her hand and then she threw it at Damas, he ducked and the cake hit Molly in the face, Ashelin laughed. Erick looked at his daughter, "Ashelin that wasn't very nice." He said, trying not to laugh.

Damas, on the other hand was laughing at Molly. That is until she wiped the cake off her face and spattered it onto his. He glared at her smirking face, "You can be such a child sometimes, Molly. Do you know that?" He said, wiping the cake off his face.

"Oh, don't even go there." Molly said, whipping the frosting on her hand off on Damas' shirt.

Damas was about to say something when Erick jumped in, "You both act like children." Molly and Damas looked at each other, smiling evilly and then they looked back at Erick. They both picked their cakes off their plates and threw it at him, hitting him in the face. Erick took a deep breath and stood up. He stood in-between them, "See, you both do act like children."

Damas looked at him, "And you don't?" He asked.

Erick wiped his face off with both is hands, "Well if I did then I would do something like this." He wiped his hands on their faces. Then Ashelin began to laugh and all three of them looked at her, she had put what was left of her cake on herself. Erick, Molly and Damas looked at each other and laughed.

At around six, Molly went home to find her father waiting for her, "Hi Papa." She said.

Mr. Groveback got up, "Molly, I'm glad you're home. I have something for you." He went over to the closet and pulled out a gray long sleeve, button down top, and a gray skirt. He handed them to her and also pulled out black dress shoes and nylons. He also handed them to her.

"Um… thanks?" She said, not sure what was going on.

"Go try them on." He said. She went upstairs and changed. The shirt fit nicely, she buttoned it all the way from her neck down, she put on the nylons and then the skirt that went down to her knees. She put on the shoes and looked at herself in the mirror and she had to admit, she looked good but why her father was dressing her like a business woman was beyond her. She went back downstairs, her father looked at her, "Oh Molly, you look perfect." He said.

"Thanks. But what made you get me this?" She asked.

He laughed, "Because tomorrow you are going to work with me."

"What!"

"Tomorrow you are coming with me to work." He said. "See you- unlike so many in this city- won't ever have to look for a job. Because you're going to work with me."

"Papa, I don't want a job."

Mr. Groveback laughed, "Of course, you don't want a job now, you're twelve. But it's never too early to start learning."

Molly looked at her father, "But papa, I want to hang out at the palace with Damas and Erick." She said.

Mr. Groveback gave his daughter a serious look, "Molly, Damas has been a great friend for you. But you have to start realizing that he is a prince and I don't want you to get hurt."

Molly looked at him, confused, "What do you mean 'get hurt'? He would never hurt me, and I don't want to go to work with you tomorrow."

Mr. Groveback looked away from her, "I don't want to hear anther word about this. Now go upstairs and go to bed. It will be a long day tomorrow."

"**You're not even listening to me!**" She yelled.

He looked at her, "**Molly**, the conversation is over. Now do as I say." Molly went upstairs and slammed her door shut.

Mr. Groveback followed her upstairs and was about to go into her room when he heard her talking to herself, "Why won't he listen to me?" He heard her ask. "He doesn't even know me." Mr. Groveback looked away feeling bad, then he walked away. Molly went over to her desk and looked the picture of her mother, "I wish you were here, mom."

The next morning, Mr. Groveback woke Molly up and she got dressed. After words she started to fix her hair, figuring that if she had to go to work she may as well look somewhat professional. She put her hair into a tight bun but left her long bangs down to frame her face. Her bangs fell just below her ears and actually looked nice. She went downstairs and found her father waiting for her. Her father led her out of the house and down the street, "Now I know this isn't what you want but give it a chance." He said as they walked.

"But papa, I just want to hang out with my friends. Why can't I just do that?" She asked. Mr. Groveback pretended not the hear her.

They walked all the way without saying a word. Mr. Groveback worked for the newspaper, or more rather he ran the company that made the newspaper. When Molly was younger she would come to work with him but it was rather dull and boring so she stopped and started to stay home by herself. That is until she met Damas and Erick, after that she would go to the palace every day. When they got to the company Molly looked at her father, "So what am I going to have to do?" She asked.

He looked at her, "Don't worry, it won't be anything hard, today you'll be my secretary."

"What?" Molly asked, in what dimension did he think that she would like this?

"Don't be so upset. It won't be that bad." He said, leading her into the building. The day was pretty boring for Molly; she sat at a desk all day taking messages, making drink runs, copying and sorting papers. It was very late by the time she and her father left and they were the last to leave, "Now see," he said, as they walked home, "that wasn't so bad was it?" He asked. Molly glared at him, "Now don't look at me like that, young lady." She looked away from him but her expression did not change. He put his hand on her shoulder and laughed, "Don't worry, when we go tomorrow it will be better."

Molly looked at her father, "Tomorrow?" She asked, "I'm going to the _palace_ tomorrow." She said.

"Molly, you don't belong there and you have to start seeing that." They walked into the house, "I fear letting you spend so much time there has made you forget that you aren't a part of that family."

"At least they _act_ like a family, and treat me like a part of it." Molly said, getting upset.

Mr. Groveback hugged her, "Molly, we are a family."

Molly pulled away from him, "No, we're not. You don't even know anything about me." She said. "I'll bet there are guards in the palace that know me better then you." She turned away from him, not giving him the chance to speak and ran to her room.

Mr. Groveback went and sat in his chair, in almost disbelief that his daughter said that. If he didn't do something soon he was going to lose his little girl forever and lose the last bit of his late wife he had left in the world. He had to do something, but what?

The next morning; Molly woke, got dressed and did her hair like she always did but today she left her bangs to frame her face like she did yesterday. She went down stairs and left without saying a word to her father. She walked into the palace and looked for her friends, she found Damas playing with Ashelin. Ashelin was sitting on a table and Damas was standing next to it, the little girl would cover her eyes and Damas acted like she had disappeared, "Ashelin, where'd you go?" He asked, looking everywhere but were she was.

"Here!" She said, uncovering her eyes and laughing.

Damas acted surprised, "How do you keep doing that?" He asked, tickling her.

She covered her eyes again, "Ashelin, where are you?" Damas asked.

"Here!" She said.

"Stop doing that." Damas said. As Molly watched this, she couldn't help but laugh. Damas looked at her and smiled, "Molly, where were you yesterday?" He asked, walking over to her, leaving Ashelin on the table.

"I was –" but the rest of her sentence was cut off but a thud. Ashelin had fallen off the table and was now sitting there crying. Molly went over to the crying toddler and picked her up, "Oh, did you fall down?" She asked.

Ashelin showed Molly the palms of her hands, "Owie." She whined.

Her hands were just a little red, Molly kissed them, "That better?" She asked. Ashelin nodded, sniffling.

Damas came over and began to wipe the tears off Ashelin's face, "You're all right. No more crying." Ashelin covered her eyes, "Ashelin where'd you go? Molly do you see her?"

"No," Molly said, playing along, "We'd better find her or Erick's going to be really mad at us."

"Here!" Ashelin said, laughing again.

When Erick came home from the Academy later that day, he took Ashelin to another part of the palace to spend a little time alone with his little girl. After he was gone, Damas asked Molly again what she was doing yesterday. Molly looked at him, "My father made me go to work with him."

"Well that doesn't sound like any fun."

"It wasn't, I was bored out of my mind. I didn't want to go."

"Didn't you tell him you didn't want to?"

"Yes."

"So why did he make you go?"

Molly looked away from him, "I don't think he wants me hanging out with you anymore."

Damas looked confused, "Why?"

"He thinks you're going to hurt me." She said, looking out the window.

Damas grabbed Molly's shoulder and made her look at him, "I would never do anything to hurt you. You know that right?" He asked, in a very serious tone.

Molly hugged him, "Yes, I know that." She said. Something new had come over her at that moment, something she couldn't explain. For the last eight years, Damas had been like her big brother, protecting her, helping her, like bother's do. But at that moment - all though she didn't know it - she had fallen in love with the prince of Haven city.

Damas hugged her back, Molly didn't know it but he had been in love with her since he was twelve years old. But he couldn't tell her, that would just make things complicated for them. "You know," he whispered in her ear, "if you ever need to get away from your dad, you can come here, and stay."

"Thanks." She said. Then as if she just realized what she was doing she pulled away from Damas and looked away because for reasons she didn't understand her face had gone red.

"Molly, are you alright?"

"Fine." She said, a little quick. She took a breath then looked at him, "I'm fine."

"Okay then, let's go find something to do." He started to walk away. Molly following him, not saying a word. She was trying to understand what had come over her. After a while Damas looked at her, "Are you sure you okay? You seem quiet."

"What? Yeah, I'm just thinking about… my father." She quickly lied.

"Don't worry about that, Molly. I sure he'll come around."

"Yeah," she half-heartedly laughed, "I'm sure your right." Taking the opportunity to change the subject, "He actually wanted me to go to work with him today as well."

"Well give it time. I'm sure this won't last." Damas said, putting his arm around her shoulder. Molly was glad he didn't see her face turn red again.

Later that night, Molly returned home to find her father waiting for her at the kitchen table, "Your home early." She said. "Slow day?"

Mr. Groveback looked at his daughter; he didn't want to ever lose her. "Molly, come and sit down." She sat down across from him. He took a deep breath; this wasn't going to be easy for either of them. So he decided to just say what he had to say, "Molly, you are never to go to the palace again and you are never to speak to the prince again."

Anger filled Molly's face but she didn't yell, "What!"

"You don't belong there. You are not a princess but he is a prince. You two are just too different and I don't want you to get hurt."

"Damas would never hurt me!" She snapped, standing up from her seat. She couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"Please try to understand," he said, also standing up. He walked over to her and took both her hands, "It broke my heart when your mother died. You look and act so much like her that you helped to dull my pain and I be lost if I were to lose you."

Molly pulled away from him; to her it sounded like her father had cared more about her mother than he cared about her, and the only reason he kept her around was because she was like her mother. "You can't keep me away from my friends!" She yelled.

Mr. Groveback's calm face turned into a glare, "Yes I can and I will. You will never go the palace. In fact you will never leave this house without me again. Am I clear?"

Molly turned to go to her room; she knew that she had lost this fight. She was fighting back tears when she stopped in the door way, "You know papa, I love you." She looked at him with tear filled eyes, "But now I wonder, did you ever love me?" Before he had time to answer, she ran up the stairs and up to her room, tears racing down her face. She ran into her room, not bothering to turn on the light and laid face down on her bed and cried. She couldn't think of never seeing her friends again. She got off the bed and went to her desk and looked at the pictures; one of her with her mother, the other of her with Damas and Erick. She took the one of her and her mother out of the mirror and looked at it, "If you were here this wouldn't be happening, mom."

Then her eyes looked at the other picture, Damas had always told her that if she ever needed him she could always go to the palace. Well she needed him now more than ever, but how was she going to get to the palace? Walking out the front door was out as an option; her father would never let her out. But then her eyes found the one window in her room which was allowing moonlight to fill the room. She walked over to it and looked down, it was only one story but there was no way she was jumping- she wasn't that crazy. She went to her closet and pulled out some of her old dresses then she tied them together. She didn't think it was long enough so she also tied them to the blanket on her bed. Then she tied the other end of her blanket to her bed frame and threw the strange 'rope' out the window. Then she grabbed her bag and threw some clothes into it… she wasn't planning on ever coming back. She grabbed the picture of her mother and put that in the bag and then closed it. She put the bag on her back and started to climb down. If she got caught she would be in so much trouble but there was nothing else her father could do to her, so she was not worried. As she was climbing down she slipped and lost her footing a little and if that wasn't bad enough, she was outside the front room window, fortunately her father didn't see her. Unfortunately, he was going upstairs most likely to check on her. Molly looked down, she was a good ten feet up. She had to let go, if she didn't then she would never see her friends again. She took a deep breath and let go, luckily she hit the ground without hurting herself and ran to the palace vanishing in the city crowd.

Mr. Groveback walked up to Molly's door but didn't open it, "Molly," he said, through the door, "honey, I'm sorry, I just want what's best for you. You know that I love you very much, come out and we'll go out for ice cream like we did when you were little." He waited for her to open the door or say something, "Molly?" He asked when nothing happened. He opened the door and saw the open window and the 'rope' hanging out of it, but Molly was nowhere in sight. He went over to the window and looked down at the street but didn't see her. He knew where she was going but he knew he would never catch her and he also knew that he would never get into the palace. He fell to the floor and buried his head in his hands; he had lost his daughter, the last part of his wife in this world forever. He looked up at the room; he looked at her desk and saw the picture that was left in the mirror. He got up and looked at it closer. He took it out of the mirror and then he crumpled it in his hand and slammed it onto the desk. His sadness turned into rage as he grabbed the back of the mirror and threw it along with the desk onto the ground. The mirror shattered as soon as it made contact with the floor.

Molly ran into the palace and started looking for her friends. She found Damas and Erick walking down a hall. The two of them looked at her, confused, "Molly?" They both said. Molly ran to them and hugged Damas as tears ran down her face again. "Molly," Damas said wrapping his arms around her, "what's wrong?" he asked.

"I- I ran away from home." She said through her sobs.

"Why did you do that?" Erick asked.

"Because, my papa told me that I was never to see either of you guys again. I couldn't stand that, you two are the only friends I have." She buried her face in Damas' shirt and he wrapped his arms around her tighter in an attempt to comfort her.

Then Selena saw the trio and went up to them. She looked at Molly, "Molly, what's wrong?" She asked. Damas told his mother what was going on, Selena looked at the crying preteen, "Oh, Molly," she said, "Come here." Molly left Damas' arms and went to Selena's; the queen began to stroke Molly's hair, "I'm sure everything will be alright. Don't cry."

"You're not going to make me go back, are you?" Molly asked, "I don't want to go back, I want to stay here. _**Please**_." Molly said, through her tears.

"The choice is yours Molly; I won't make you go back. If you don't want go back, you can stay."

Molly looked up at her and smiled, "Thank you." She said, wiping the tears from her face.

Selena smiled as well, "Let's go find you a room to sleep in, okay?" She began to lead Molly down the hall.

Erick and Damas watched the two of them walk away then Erick turned to Damas, "You know," he said, "Molly's father is an asshole." Damas burst out laughing. Then Erick felt a tug on his pant leg, he looked down and saw Ashelin crying. Erick picked her up, "Hey, what's wrong with you?" He asked.

"Daddy, I had a bad dream." The toddler, said rubbing her eye.

'It's okay, it's over now, so you need to go back to bed." Erick carried her back to bed. Damas stood there for a minute and left to go find Molly.

Later that night, Selena and Alexander were in their room. "Selena, I can't believe you said she could stay here." Alexander said after Selena had told him what was going on.

"What was I support to do, Al?"

"Tell her to go home. She can't stay here, she needs to go home."

"You have no room to talk Alexander; you're the one who said you would take care of Erick.

"That was different. His father was my best friend growing up, and both he and his wife are dead. Erick has nowhere to go."

"And neither does Molly."

"Selena, Molly is a great kid, but she's not our daughter."

"But we've treated her like she was for the last eight years." She took a deep breath, "If we tell her she can't stay here she might just live on the streets and I don't want that to happen. You know she won't last a day like that."

Alexander looked at his wife and smiled, "Alright, she can stay if she wants to." Selena kissed her husband and then they went to sleep.

**Jet: Well that's the end of the chapter.**

**Penny: You put the 'A' word in the story.**

**Jet: Yep.**

**Penny: And Molly ran away from home.**

**Jet: Yeah, cause her dad was being a jerk.**

**Penny: He didn't even have a name.**

**Jet: Nope. **

**Penny: And what was with the name of the chapter?**

**Jet: Oh, 'Daughter to Father' is a sub name for a song I like, called 'confessions of a broken heart' and I thought it worked for this chapter. You know Penny, for someone inside my head, you don't know much.**

**Penny: That's because you don't let me know anything.**

**Jet: Now to the readers tell me what you think. Next part will be up, I don't know when. But keep an eye out for it.**


	4. Fear

Chapter 4: Fear

**Jet: Okay, in the last chapter, it was Ashelin's B-Day, and really it was just me making Ashelin be cute. I actually really like Ashelin.**

**Penny: Why? She kissed Jak at the end of 3rd game.**

**Jet: That is the only part where I don't like her- other than that she is a great character and I like her. But anyways, so later Molly goes home and the next day her dad makes her go to work with him, she doesn't like it. Her father thinks that if she spends more time with Damas then he will hurt her. Molly tells him that he is wrong and the next day she goes back to the palace. Damas asked her what she was doing yesterday and she tells him what her father had said. Damas tells her that he could never hurt her and Molly feels something new come over her… but she doesn't know what it is.**

**Penny: AWWWWWWWWWWWWW! She fell in love. **

**Jet: Yep, and the ****readers**** find out that Damas has been in love with her for two years but neither of them have told each other.**

**Penny: Will they in this chapter?**

**Jet: You're in my head, you should know but don't tell anyone.**

**Penny: But –**

**Jet (covering Penny's mouth): Anyway, Molly goes home and her father tells her she is never to see Damas or Erick again. Well Molly is not going to take that so she runs away from home and goes to the palace. Now she is living there. Well that's it, time to keep reading.**

It had been about a year since Molly ran away from home and in all realty she couldn't be happier; she never had to worry about her father, she was with her best friends and she was even treated like a princess, which was what every girl wanted at some point in their lives. Erick was now an official guard but do to his fear of needles he didn't have the tattoos that all the other guards had. Damas was still as care free as he always had been but with Molly living at the palace for over a year, he'd still had not told her that he was in love with her. But that was because he didn't know if she felt the same way about him which made things a little awkward for him because with Erick being a guard now Damas was finding himself spending more and more time alone with Molly.

Molly was having the same problem, after a year of living with him she realized that she was in love with Damas, but how was she supposed to tell him and not only that but they had been friends for so long, she feared that he saw her more of a little sister than a love interest, so she didn't say anything to him. She started reading horror novels when she wanted to be alone. Her favorite place to read was in the chair next to the large window in her bedroom. She would get so lost in her books that Damas found it funny to sneak up behind her and scare her. One day, when she was reading a book about an old house that was brutally killing everyone that dared to live in it, Damas snuck up behind her and stared to shake her chair. Molly screamed and Damas started to laugh.

"Damas!" Molly shouted, slamming her book shut and getting up, "What is your problem?"

"You." He said, smirking.

"You're a jerk." She said as she started to laugh and playfully beat him with her book. Molly sat back down in the chair and went back to reading.

"So..." Damas said, leaning against the back of the chair, "Erick's on patrol in the city."

"Yeah..." Molly said, not looking up from her book.

"And my mom is watching Ashelin."

"Yeah…" She looked at him.

"And my dad's doing I don't know what."

"What are you getting at?" She asked, a little worried about what he might have planted with everyone else doing other things. Hopefully he didn't want to go outside the city again.

"Well…" He said, scratching the back of his head, "I was thinking we could… I don't know; go see a movie or something."

Molly looked at him confused, "Go see a movie? Like normal teenager?"

Damas shrugged, "Not if you don't want to."

"A movie sounds like fun," She got up and closed her book, "What movie did you have in mind?"

He looked at her book, "Well you seem to be really into scary books so why don't we go see a scary movie?" In all reality, Damas wanted to see a scary movie with her because he was hoping that she would get scared enough that she would grab onto him. After all, wasn't that _why_ guys took girls to scary movies in the first place?

"That sounds like fun."

The two of them left for the movies, the film they saw started out nice. A father one day brought home a small crocadog puppy for his young son. Then in a transition both the dog and the boy had grown up into young adults; the dog was the boy's best friend and partner in a police force. But then when the two were looking into a crime spree there was a chemical explosion. Thanks to the dog the boy was unharmed but the dog was badly hurt. After a few days the dog seemed to recover but then the scary part of the movie started. The dog turned violent to everyone but the boy. The dog ran away from the boy, his first victim was a little girl, he tore her to shreds. At this, Molly hid her face in Damas' shoulder; he put his arm around her, even _he_ couldn't pretend that the little girl getting killed didn't bother him a little. They stayed like that for the rest of the film.

As the movie progressed the boy tried to find a way to save the dog but it seemed that the only thing he could do was kill his best friend. When the boy found the dog, he was eating the remains of his latest victim. The boy and the dog looked at each other and the boy pointed a gun at the dog but he couldn't kill his best friend. The dog ran at the boy and jumped on him pinning him to the ground. The boy dropped his gun. The dog was about to bite when the boy kicked him off. The dog lunged at the boy again growling and barking. The boy ran for the gun and the dog bit his leg causing him to fall. He reached for the gun. He grabbed it, the dog still holding his leg. The boy turned and pointed the gun at the dog again. Then the camera zoomed in close on the boy and a single tear ran down his face as he shot his dog. The dog let go of the boys leg and fell to the ground whimpering. The boy got up and looked at the dying dog and the dog looked at the boy with sad eyes that said 'I'm sorry.' The boy scratched him behind the ear as the dog died. The screen faded to black and the end credits started rolling.

Damas and Molly walked out of the theater, "You know," Damas said as they walked into the streets, "That wasn't as scary as I thought it would be. It was more of a tragedy than a horror story."

Molly looked at him, "Are you kidding me? That movie was terrifying, the dog was eating people!"

"Yeah, but the boy had to kill his best friend." Then a barking sound came down the street and a little puppy came running up to them. The puppy had a bright red collar on and a leash attached. Molly hid behind Damas as he bent down to pat the small pup on the head, "Well hello, where did you come from?" He asked, then he looked at Molly, "It was just a movie Molly, the dog is not going to hurt you."

"He might." She squeaked.

Then two kids came running up to them. The older of the two was a young girl about seven and the younger was a boy about two, he was sucking on his thumb as he followed the older child. "Rexie." The girl said, as she picked up the leash, "Bad dog. You don't run off like that." The girl looked up at Damas and Molly, "Sorry." She said, then she turned around and grabbed her brother's hand and walked away.

Damas looked at Molly, "Okay, what was that about?" He asked.

"What was what?" She asked as she started to walk down the street.

"The way you acted when you saw that dog." He said following her, "Molly you do know that was just a movie, right?"

"Yeah, I know that."

"Then why did you act so scared of a puppy?" He asked, laughing a little.

"I don't know what you're talking about." She said, not looking at him.

Damas stood in front of her, "Yes you do. Now what's going on with you? Did that movie really scare you that badly?"

"No, it's… it's not the movie." She looked away from him, "I just don't like dogs."

"You're afraid of dogs?"

"I didn't say that." She quickly said.

"You're afraid of dogs." He repeated.

Molly glared at him, "So what if I am? We can't all be as brave as you."

"Nothing is wrong with the fact you're afraid of something, Molly. I just can't believe I've known you for the last nine years and I didn't know that you were afraid of dogs, that's all."

"Oh… well okay." She said as her face turned red. The two of them walked around the city with no real destination, not saying a word. Really the two of them were just enjoying each other's company. When they had walked all the way to the slums, Molly looked up at Damas, "So…" She said, he looked at her, "what are you afraid of?" she asked putting her hands behind her back and smiling up at him.

He thought about it, the truth was he couldn't think of anything that he was really scared of. "Nothing." He said, shrugging.

Molly stepped in front of him and started to walk backwards, "You have to be afraid of something, 'everyone is'."

"Well, I'm not."

Then a guard came up behind them, the two of them looked at him. "What are two doing?" He asked.

"Hey, Erick." Damas said. "We just were at the movies."

"How did you know it was me?" Erick asked.

Molly sighed, "You're the only guard that doesn't have tattoo showing at the bottom of your helmet." She said, shaking her head.

The three of them walked around the Slums in Erick's patrol area, seeing as Erick was talking to the Prince none of the other guards said anything. About mid day Molly and Damas figured they should head home, they walked about two feet when all of a sudden someone screamed. Damas and Molly looked up and saw a Metal-head standing on top of the wall. The Metal-head gave a loud roar and then a small army of them flew over the wall sending most of the people in the street into panic. The flying Metal-heads dropped other Metal-heads into the streets and they began to attack. The guards went to the aid of the people, Erick with them. Damas grabbed Molly's hand and began to lead her away from the attacking Metal-heads; he had to keep her safe. But then a Metal-head jumped down from the roof of a nearby building and landed in front of them. Damas tried to go back but found his way blocked by three others… they were trapped. The Metal-heads backed the two elves into a corner; Molly was hiding behind Damas, she was scared out of her mind. She looked at Damas and was shocked to find not a hint of fear in his face; he looked more angry then scared. One of the Metal-heads bared its fangs and growled before it leaped at them.

Molly covered her eyes so she didn't see what happened, she heard what sounded like a punch and then something hit the ground. Molly dared a look and looked up at Damas and then saw the Metal-head with blood pouring out of its head. Damas had punched the creature's skull gem right out of its head and now it was bleeding to death. In too much pain to move it just stayed on the ground, howling. Damas looked at the remaining three Metal-heads; all three of them started to move closer to him. One leaped at him and he grabbed its skull gem and ripped it out, the Metal-head gave out a cry of pain as it fell to the ground, Damas barely had time to think beforw one of the remaining two Metal-heads jumped on him, "**DAMAS!"** Molly yelled.

He was holding the Metal-head back with one arm placed on its neck, he looked at Molly, "**RUN!**" he yelled, "**Don't worry about me, just get out of here!**" Molly looked at the last Metal-head that was walking up to her, getting ready to pounce. She started to run but didn't get far before it jumped in front of her. The Metal-head raised one of its scaly arms and hit her, sending her to the ground knocking the wind out of her. "**NO!**" Damas screamed, he kicked the Metal-head off of him and ran to Molly's aid before the Metal-head had time to get up.

Molly looked at the Metal-head coming at her; she was too scared to pick herself up off the ground. Then out of nowhere Damas jumped on its back, it took the Metal-head a moment to realize what happened and when it did it began to try to buck Damas off its back, but Damas had grabbed onto some of the armor that was on the Metal-head and was hanging on. Molly had to admit it was a little funny to watch… he got a little cocky when he was hanging on with one hand. He reached for the skull gem and ripped it out, the Metal-head screeched and fell. Damas got off and ran to Molly, "Are you alright?" He asked, helping her up.

"I'm fine." She said, hugging him. Then she saw the last of the four Metal-heads coming up behind him, "Damas!" She cried.

He turned around and was set to take out this one as well when a gun shot came and the Metal-head fell dead on the ground. Damas and Molly looked and saw a guard lowering his gun, "I can't leave you two alone for five minutes, can I?" Erick asked.

"Hey!" Damas said, "I've killed three Metal-heads already." Erick rolled his eyes although Damas couldn't see. But then another Metal-head jumped down form a building onto Erick knocking off his helmet. "**ERICK!**" Molly and Damas screamed.

"**GET OUT OF HERE!**" Erick yelled, throwing the Metal-head off himself. When the Metal-head had jumped on him Erick had dropped his gun. He was set to take the Metal-head out with his bare hands, but the Metal-head took him by surprise and threw him at a building. Erick hit his head and knew no more.

Erick woke to the sound of a steady beeping, "Wake up." He heard a young man's voice say, "Erick." He saw Damas, "Hey, rise and shine, buddy. How you feeling?" He asked, sitting down in the chair next to the bed.

"Where am I?" Erick asked.

"The hospital, you got hit pretty bad."

"What happened? Where's Molly?"

"She's fine, we're both fine…" He said, a little concern in his voice.

Erick was a little confused, "…what's wrong with _me_?"

Damas took a deep breath, "I swear to you Erick, we've done everything we could. The best platic surgeons in the city were here Erick, you had the best."

Erick reached for the mirror that was on the bed side table, Damas quickly picked it up. Erick looked at him, "Give me that mirror." He stated.

"I don't know if that's a good idea. They said the shock alone –"

"I SAID GIVE ME THE GOD DAMN MIRROR!" He half yelled, taking it from him.

"Okay, Erick, just be strong." Damas said, slowly heading for the door. Erick slowly looked in the mirror, but he was a little shocked to see that there was nothing wrong with his face. It looked like it always did. He glared at Damas, "Unfortunately the doctors just couldn't do anything to fix your face." Damas said. Erick though the mirror at him and Damas fled mischievously out the door before he could be hit, laughing as he ran. The mirror hit the wall and shattered. When Damas ran out the door he found his parents, and Molly and Ashelin. Molly and his parents were glaring at him, "Erick's awake." He said, grinning.

"Daddy!" Ashelin said, running into the room.

Damas looked at his parents and Molly, "What?" He asked still smiling. All three of them still glared at him, "It was funny." He said. His parents rolled their eyes and went into the room. Damas looked at Molly, "Oh come on, you are taking this way to seriously." He said. Molly walked up to him and slapped him on the back of the head before going into the room herself, Damas walked in rubbing the back of his head.

Erick was holding Ashelin as she cried, "It's okay, Ash." He said, "Don't cry, I'm alright." He looked at Alexander, "How did Metal-heads even get into the city?" He asked.

"I don't know. The power on the wall must have blinked." He said.

"That was a pretty big _'blink'._" Selena said.

"And the Metal-heads," Erick said, "are they all out of the city?" He asked.

"Yeah, they're all gone." Alexander said.

The next day, Alexander and Selena had to meet with the council to discuss Alexander's plan to build a wall between old town and the rest of the city. The grand council was put together by Alexander's grandfather, he had felt that the people deserved to have a say in how their home was run. There where thirteen people in the council so there was no chance of a tie vote. Out of all of them there was only one man that had been there since the time of Alexander's grandfather. Typically everyone agreed with him so really the only way to convince the council was to convince this guy. There was also a very young man who was most likely in his early twenties, how he got on the council was a mystery. He talked a lot about the catacombs under the palace and how they could save the city. But no one knew if there were catacombs under the palace and no one wanted to destroy the palace to find out.

They all took their seats; they were made up of people of all parts of the city, from the high class to the people from the slums and everywhere in the middle and once you were in the council you were in for life. Alexander and Selena stood in the middle of the room; Selena was more there to support her husband. The head man of the council addressed the king, "Good morning, sir. Now I'm sure I speak for everyone here when I ask, why are we here?"

"To discuss making the border of the city smaller." Alexander stated.

Whispers spread in amongst the council. "Sire, may I ask why you want to shrink our city?" The head man asked.

"The wall takes more eco then anything in the city and we are running out of it." The council whispered amongst themselves. After about a minute of this Alexander spoke up again, "We don't have a choice, the city is running out of eco. Yesterday there was a Metal-head attack in the slums. I suppose everyone has heard about that?"

"Yes." A woman said, "Tell me, is it true that your fifteen year old son killed three Metal-heads with his bare hands?"

Alexander and Selena looked at each other, "Yes…" Alexander said, looking back up at the council, "But that is not the matter at hand."

"You must be very proud of him." The woman said.

Of course he was proud of his son, what father wouldn't be? But he was a little upset that the council was trying to get off topic. Apparently Selena had a problem with this as well for now she was speaking up, "He could have been killed!" She stated, "And why do we need to talk about this? There is only one real option we have and that is to make the city smaller. Cutting off the oldest part of the city will give the rest city more eco."

The youngest member of the council stood up, "If I may," he said, "There is another option before us."

The woman sitting next to him looked at him, "Veger, we are not going to bring the palace down for something that might not be there."

"But if it is there –"

"That's enough." The oldest member said, a hush fell over them as all eyes turned to him, "I believe that the King and Queen are right. I side with them and say that we move all the people from the old section of the city and cut it off from the rest of the city." Alexander and Selena smiled at each other.

"Well," the head man said, "shall we put it to a vote?" He asked looking around the room, "All in favor of building a new wall and cutting off the old section of the city?" A majority of the people raised their hands. "All opposed?" The remaining three people raised their hands. "Very well, the people in the old section will be moved and construction on the wall will begin. Dismissed."

Alexander and Selena walked out. After they were in the hall, just the two of them, Selena hugged her husband and kissed him, "Are you okay?" Alexander asked.

"Yes, I'm fine." She said, looking up at him. "It's just nice to know that now there will be more eco for the city." She looked away from him, "The Metal-heads can't get back in."

"Selena."

She looked up at him, then she buried her face in his shirt, "They could have been killed yesterday. All three of them..." She said as her eyes filled with tears.

Alexander held her tight, "I know, but they're alright. I can't believe our son really killed three Metal-heads… I was eighteen when I killed my first Metal-head and I had a _gun_."

Selena looked up at him, "It _is_ impressive." She said, smiling a little.

He pulled away from her, "Come on, let's go home." Selena followed her husband back to the palace.

**Jet: Well that's the end of this chapter, I'll bet you all thought that the Metal-head attack was going to be in what will become dead town. Well it's not.**

**Penny: You are horrible Jet.**

**Jet: What do you mean?**

**Penny (Whining): I mean, I know what you are going to do in the next chapter. How could you?**

**Jet: Hey, I would think what is going to happen would be a given if you really think about it.**

**Penny: Either way, how you're planning to have it play out is horrible!**

**Jet: Thank you.**

**Penny: Not to mention Molly and Damas still don't know that they are in love with each other.**

**Jet: I never said that was going to happen in this chapter. So to the reader, tell me what you think, and I'm going on vacation for a little bit so I don't know when the next chapter will be up.**


	5. Love and Lost

Chapter 5: Love and Lost

**Jet: Well, I'm back and my trip was great, except for the part where I left my bag on the train and then the train left- taking my bag with it!**

**Penny: owch! What was in it?**

**Jet: You should know but I'll tell you anyways, at the end of the chapter. So in the last chapter, Damas and Molly go to see a scary movie and Damas finds out that Molly is afraid of dogs and apparently Damas isn't afraid of anything… go figure. The two of them meet up with Erick who is patrolling the slums. At about mid day Molly and Damas figure they should head home but then that is when all hell breaks loose and Metal-heads attack the city. So Damas tries to flee with Molly to keep her safe but then a Metal-head jumps in front of them. Damas tries to go the other way but then three others show up, blocking him. So to protect Molly, Damas fights them. He punched the first one knocking its skull gem out of its head and the Metal-head bleeds to death very quickly.**

**Penny: Okay… why? Where does that logic work?**

**Jet: See in games 2, 3 and Daxter when Jak or Daxter kill a Metal-head they drop their skull gems. There are a few exceptions to this but whatever. I just started to think that maybe ripping out their skull gems is an easy way to kill them. Just not many people want to put their hands that close to a Metal-head's mouth.**

**Penny: That makes a little sense.**

**Jet: Anyway, so Damas kills two other Metal-heads and Erick kills the last one. Then out of nowhere another one shows up and knocks Erick out. He wakes up in the hospital and Damas plays a joke on him, Fantastic Four moment. Then Alexander and Selena convince the counsel to cut off the older part of the city and build a wall between that part and the rest of the city- and before we start, I feel that I should point out how old some of the characters are at this point. Damas is seventeen, Molly is fifteen, Erick is twenty-one and Ashelin is six. I never figure out how old Alexander and Selena are so whatever. Okay I think that's it on with the story.**

Within the two years that followed the Metal-head attack on the city, a new wall was constructed. It was nearly finished, just a few more tweaks and it would be done. But there was a problem; many of citizens that lived in the old town didn't want to leave their homes where others jumped at the chance to get somewhere else.

But at the palace sometime late in the day, things couldn't be better. Damas was walking around the palace looking for Molly. Alexander and Selena were looking over the work done on the wall and trying to get the last of the people to move out of their homes in old town, Erick was stuck at a desk today so he took Ashelin with him so she could play with the other kids that came to work with their parents. So –not counting the servants- Damas and Molly were the only ones at the palace. He found her in her room, reading from a script. Within the last two years Molly had gotten into theater, she could sing and dance better than anyone he knew. It was no wonder why she always got the lead in whatever play she was in, she had the talent. Damas had never missed a show, he remembered her first show; it was about a young girl who travels to a place far from home and falls in love. He remembered how it ended with the guy playing the main guy kissed her… but it lasted longer than the script said- Molly only going along with it for the show. The next time Damas saw him he found that Molly had given him a black eye- this made him smile a little.

Molly didn't know Damas was there so he just stood in the doorway as she started to sing a song about what the character she played has learned and how she had changed from the events that had happened in the show. She finished singing and then saw Damas, she jumped, "How long have you been there?" She asked.

"Not long." He said, smiling. He walked over to her, "So what is this show about?"

Molly put the script down and looked up at him, "It's about a young girl from a small town who dreams of adventure and a spoiled prince who is under a spell. All of the servants are turned into appliances and furniture and the prince is turned into a monster."

"It's _that_ old story?" He asked, rolling his eyes.

"Hey, it's a great story, and the songs are great too." Molly said.

Damas smiled at her, "If you're singing them, I know they're good."

Molly blushed, "You know, it would be more fun if you where the main guy." She said.

"I could never do theater, I can't sing or dance." Damas said, with a bit of a laugh. He looked at Molly, "Hey, let's get out of the palace- or better yet the city, for a bit."

Molly looked at him, "You want to go outside the city where there are Metal-heads?" She asked.

Damas put his arms around her, "Don't worry Molly, I'll always protect you."

Molly smiled, "Do you promise?" she asked.

"I promise." He whispered.

Molly looked up at him with a smile, knowing that she was safe wherever they went, "Okay. Where do you want to go?" She asked.

He thought about it for a minute, "Let's go to the forest. There haven't been any Metal-heads sightings there for a while." Molly went a little pale, the forest scared her. Damas looked at her, "You okay?" He asked.

"Yeah." She said, smiling. She had nothing to be afraid of, Damas promised they be aright- so why was she scared? But still, "What about your parents? You know they won't be happy if they find out we went out into the forest."

Damas laughed, "We'll be back before they even know we're gone." He said as he walked away.

"Okay…" She said, following him.

They got to the forest and the door opened without any problems. The two teens walked into the forest, Molly staying close to Damas. He looked at her, "Are you sure you're okay?" He asked.

"What? Oh, yeah I'm fine." She said. Then a bird flew out of a nearby bush and Molly screamed and grabbed Damas' arm. When she realized it was just a bird she looked up at Damas who was trying his best not to burst out laughing, Molly glared at him, "Don't say anything." She said, walking a little way in front of him. The two of them walked for over an hour before they sat down near the river and watched the sunset together. Damas laid back on the grass as did Molly, the two of them sat in silence just glad the other was there, before they knew it and without meaning to, they had fallen asleep on the grass.

It was dark when Damas woke up, he looked at Molly and watched her wake up, he looked into her ocean blue eyes and she looked into his violet eyes, this was truly a perfect moment. The both of them sat up, Damas grabbed Molly's hand, "Hey, there's something I've been meaning to tell you for a long time." He said.

"Yes. What is it?"

He moved closer to her and whispered in her ear, "I love you."

Molly felt like her heart had skipped a beat, did he really just say what she thought he said? "What?" she asked, not sure what to say.

"I love you." He said, taking her other hand in his, "Do you… love me?" He asked.

Molly smiled, feeling happier then she could ever remember being. She tried to speak, to tell him that she loved him too but her voice caught in her throat so she just nodded. Damas smiled and pulled her into a tight embrace which Molly gladly retuned. She couldn't believe it, the prince of Haven city loved her, he could have anyone and he wanted and he wanted her. She pulled away from him a little and the two of them looked at each other for about a second before Molly pressed her lips against his. He was little shocked by her sudden movement but he relaxed into it and began to kiss her back. Molly wrapped her arms around his neck and he wrapped his around her thin waist. Molly pulled away from him and looked at him, "I love you, so much." She finally said.

Damas looked into her eyes, the stars reflecting in them._ 'The stars?' _"**OH** **SHIT!"** He swore, getting up.

"What's wrong?" Molly asked, also getting up- briefly off from his sudden loud foul language.

Damas looked at her, "My parents are going to kill us."

Molly realized what he meant, Alexander and Selena must be worried sick about the two of them, "We should go back to the city… now."

"No kidding, let's go." Damas led Molly back to the city and back to the palace. The two of them tried to stay out of sight of anyone, hoping to play it off as they had been in one of the rooms of the palace all day and just no one had looked for them there. But this plan failed because Alexander was in the one room they had picked to hide in. Damas' ears drooped when he saw his father glaring at him, "Hi dad." Damas said, completely busted. Molly hid behind Damas as Alexander walked closer to them.

"Where the hell have you two been?" He asked, in a tone that was scarier than if he just yelled at them.

"Out." Damas said, avoiding looking his father in the eye.

Then Selena came into the room and saw Damas and Molly, "Where have you been?" She asked.

"Apparently they were out." Alexander said.

Selena glared at the teenagers, "Do either of you know how worried I've been? Did you even tell anyone you where leaving?" She asked, mostly addressing her son.

Molly and Damas looked at each other then Damas looked back at his parents, "Well… no, but when do I ever tell anyone I'm leaving?"

"Damas, this is not a joke." Alexander said.

Selena looked at Molly, "Molly, why don't you and I go somewhere else?"

"Okay." Molly said. She and Selena walked out.

Damas turned his attention back to his father, "Dad, I'm not a child any more. I'm seventeen years old, I can take care of myself."

"Then I suggest you start acting like it. What if something had happened to you or Molly?" Alexander took a deep breath and then continued, "Damas, it's just that I'm not going to be around forever and once I'm gone then you will have to take my place, you can't be a king and a child."

"I know. I don't see why you and mom are getting so worked up about this, nothing happened. Molly and I are fine. We were planning on being back before it got dark but we kinda… fell asleep." He said shrugging a little.

Alexander glared at the younger elf, "Where were you?" He asked.

"We were…" he looked away from his father and mumbled something that Alexander could not hear. Damas looked back at his father and knew that he had not heard him, "We were in the forest." he said.

"What were you two doing outside the city? You know you're not to go outside the wall."

"I'm seventeen, I think I can take protect myself."

"What would you have done if Metal-heads showed up?"

Damas rolled his eyes, "I've taken on Metal-heads before, dad."

"You got lucky that **one** time you had to fight Metal-heads."

Damas glared at his father and then walked out, _'Lucky? He thinks I just got lucky?' _Damas thought and he walked to his room, where he stayed for the rest of the night. The next day, Erick found Damas down it the palace library; Damas looked up when he heard footsteps, "Hey Erick." He said going back to his book.

"Hey, your parents want to see you. They're in the throne room."

Damas got up and went with Erick to the throne room, "So what do they want?" Damas asked.

Erick shrugged, "Hell if I know, I was just told to find you."

"They probably think I snuck off again." He sighed, "I don't know why they don't think I can take care of myself."

Erick looked at Damas, "You can take care of yourself, you can hold your own with a Metal-head. But Molly can't."

"Well she doesn't have to."

"Oh… and why is that?"

"She has me. I'll never let anything happen to her."

Erick looked at Damas, realizing, "You love her."

Damas smiled, "Yes, I do."

"Have you told her?"

"Yeah, yesterday."

"And, what did she say?"

"She loves me too."

Erick patted Damas on the back, "I always knew you two would end up together. When's the wedding?" He asked, as a joke.

Damas couldn't help but laugh a little, "Wedding? We're not ever eighteen yet, Molly's only fifteen."

"So, I was sixteen when I became a father."

"That's because you're stupid."

Erick smiled to himself, "I can't believe it's been six years."

"Yeah, Ashelin is something special."

"She keeps saying how she wants to be a guard, like me. But she's so sweet, I don't know if she can."

"Erick, she's six. _All_ six year olds are sweet, she could change."

"I don't know if I want her to."

The two of them walked into the throne room, Alexander and Selena looked at them, "There you are." Selena said, walking over to her son.

"Here I am," Damas said, "what did you need?"

"We have someone we wanted you to meet." Selena said. Then Damas saw a girl, she was a very pretty girl, with long deep dark blue hair, which fell well below the middle of her back and her eyes may have been blue but they were so dark they looked black. She was in a floor length midnight blue dress but she had an air about her that suggested that she had been spoiled all her life and always got what she wanted. "This is Nira." Selena said.

Nira walked over and curtsied, "Hello, Prince Damas."

"Hi. So what are you here for?" He asked.

Nira laughed, a laugh that honestly made Damas shiver a little. It was a seductive laugh, "As if you didn't know." She said, walking around him like she was inspecting him.

"Um… no, I don't know." He said turning to look at her.

"Our parents thought it would be good if we started to get to know each other."

Damas looked at his parents, "Why?" He asked, feeling a little creeped out.

Nira laughed again, "Because we're betrothed."

"**WHAT!**" Damas asked.

"You and I are promised to each other. I've know about this since I was five years old. Now we don't have to get married right away but I would like it if we got married within a year or two."

Damas didn't say anything, he just walked out with Erick right behind him. "**BETROTHED!** **TO **_**HER**_**!**"

"What, you don't like her?" Erick asked, sarcastically.

"NO! She's creepy and I love Molly! My parents can't really be planning to have me married to someone like her!"

"Married to who?" A young woman's voice said.

Damas turned around and was glad to see Molly. He embraced her, "Oh Molly." He said.

"Damas, are you alright?" She asked, pulling away from him a little.

"No, I'm not alright. I just found out that my parents have betrothed me to someone that I just met and not to mention, she's a little creepy."

Molly pulled out of his grasp, "You're betrothed?"

"I swear, I didn't know. I don't love her, I could never love her." He took her hands in his, "I love you."

Molly hugged him, "I love you too."

Damas wrapped his arms around her, "I promise, I'll fix this."

"Do you mean it?"

"I would rather die than brake a promise to you. You know that." He kissed her forehead.

Erick heard footsteps coming down the hall, "Um… guys, someone's coming."

Damas and Molly looked at him, "Good," Damas said, "we can get this fixed right now."

Nira came around the corner and saw Molly and Damas together, "Oh! Who is this?" She asked, referring to Molly as if she was bit of dirt.

"This is Molly." Damas said, putting his arm around her, "She's my –"

"Oh," Nira said, almost relived, "_this_ is Molly. I've heard a lot about her. She's like your sister, right?"

"Um… No Nira. She's my girl-friend." Damas said.

"Girl-friend?" Nira said, "But you don't need a girl-friend. We're engaged."

"Look, I'm sorry, but I'm in love with Molly and I'm not going to stop loving her just because my parents say to."

Nira looked at Damas then Molly then back at Damas, "You love her? Fine." She said and walked away, her tone not going with her accepting words. Molly, Damas and Erick looked at each other, knowing that was way too easy.

Back in the throne room, Alexander sat at the base of the stairs that led up to the throne, Selena sitting next to him, "Well, that could have gone better." Alexander said.

"Al," Selena said, he looked at her, "I don't think we should try to force Damas to marry this girl or any girl."

"Selena, we were betrothed to each other and _I_ couldn't be happier."

"Same with me. But I don't think Damas even likes Nira."

"They just need to spend a little time together. Remember how we were when we found out we were betrothed?"

Selena shook her head, "I hated you."

"And I was the same way but we grew to love each other and now I can't imagine my life without you."

"But Al that's it, we grew up with each other."

"What are you getting at Selena?"

"I think Damas is in love with Molly."

"Well what are we supposed to do about that? I don't want to force him to marry someone he could never love."

"I think we should let him choose."

Alexander nodded in agreement and the two of them went to go and find Damas and Nira.

Meanwhile, in another part of the palace, Molly was playing a card game with Ashelin in her room or rather Molly was losing a card game to Ashelin, "Okay, you beat me again."

"That's three times in a row Aunt Molly."

"I know." She said smiling. Then the door opened and Nira walked in, "Hi Nira, do you want to play a game with us?"

Nira looked at card on the ground, scrunching her nose, "You want me to play a children's card game?"

"You don't have to if you don't want to." Molly said.

Nira looked at Ashelin, "Who's the brat?"

"I'm not a brat!" Ashelin yelled, standing up, "My name's Ashelin Praxis."

"Oh," Nira said, "You're the bast–"

Molly covered Ashelin ears so she wouldn't hear. "You talk like that in front of small children?" Molly asked.

"What does it matter?" Nira asked, flipping her hair, "When I'm Queen, then she won't be living here, and neither will you."

"You will never be Queen. Damas doesn't love you."

"He doesn't have to. We will be married and then I will be Queen and you will be in the dirty streets where you belong."

Molly couldn't believe what she was hearing, "Even if Damas is _forced_ to marry you he'll never let you do that."

"He won't always be there to protect you."

"Yes he will." Molly said, a growing anger in her voice; Ashelin ran to hide under her bed.

Nira walked up closer to Molly so they were about an inch apart, "He's not here now." Before Molly could react Nira had Molly in a choke hold, Molly couldn't breathe. Ashelin ran out from under her bed and tried to run to the door to go get help, "Oh no you don't, you little brat!" Nira said, grabbing Ashelin by the hair and throwing her onto the ground and for good measure kicked the six year old in the gut.

Ashelin lay on the floor coughing and crying. Molly wasn't going to stand for that, she elbowed Nira in the gut and got out of her hold. Molly started coughing and went over to Ashelin and helped her up, but then Nira grabbed Molly and forced her to the ground, "**Ashelin run!**" Molly screamed, "**Go get help!**"

Ashelin ran for the door again, Nira tried to stop her but Molly grabbed her. Ashelin got out and ran down the hall screaming for her father and Damas. She found them walking down a hallway, she ran to them, crying. Erick picked her up and looked at her, "Ashelin, what's wrong?" Erick asked.

"**Aunt Molly's in trouble, there's a crazy lady trying to kill her!**" She sobbed.

"Where are they?" Damas asked, a mix of anger and fear in his voice.

"**They're in my room!**"

Damas looked at Erick, "Find my parents and tell them what's going on!"Then he ran down the hall to Ashelin's room.

Back in Ashelin's room, Molly was picking herself off the floor after Nira had punched her in the face. She wiped the blood that was coming from her lip, "Do you really think anyone will stand for this?" Molly asked. "When Damas finds out –"

"What will it matter? You'll be dead!" Nira said, reaching down to her ankle and pulling out a knife that she had kept hidden under her dress, "Then he won't have any reason not to make me his Queen."

"You really think killing me will make him want marry you? You're delusional! " Nira threw Molly onto the ground and stood over her with the knife. Molly laid there looking up at her.

"**Nira!**" Both Nira and Molly looked at the door and saw Damas standing there. He walked over to them and grabbed Nira's wrist and took the knife from her and threw it aside. Then he looked at Molly and helped her up, "Are you alright?" He asked, brushing her hair out of her face.

Molly hugged him, "I'm fine." She said, starting to cry, "I thought she was going to kill me."

Damas wrapped his arms around her and glared at Nira, she tried to run out the door but found her way blocked by Alexander and Selena. Alexander looked at Erick, "Take her away." Erick nodded and began to escort Nira to the fortress. Ashelin stuck her tongue out at her as she went.

Alexander looked at Damas who was glaring at him, "How could you think that I would ever marry her?" Damas asked.

"She wasn't crazy when she was five." He looked at Molly, "Are you alright?" He asked.

Molly smiled, "I'm fine." She looked at Damas who had a 'I don't believe you' look, "Really," She said, "I'm alright."

Damas looked at his parents, "Mom, dad, I'm in love with Molly." He looked at Molly and took both of her hands, "And I don't think I could ever love anyone else." Selena and Alexander looked at each other, smiled and nodded.

About two weeks later, the new wall was officially done, although the matter of moving the remaining people from the old section was still there. Alexander, Selena and Erick were there, trying to get them to move. After a while, Alexander found himself looking at the old hut, the hut had belonged to the green eco sage and his daughter back in the time of Sandover, but they had disappeared along with a hero that was known only as the light and a small rodent. All four of them had disappeared the same time the Metal-heads showed up, at least that was what the old legends said.

Selena came up behind him and wrapped her arms around him, "Hey," she said, he looked at her, "You okay?"

"Yeah…"

"What's on your mind?" She asked.

"It's just… I wish…" He stopped as a strange sound reached his ears.

"What is it?" Selena asked.

"Shhh." Alexander said, something was coming but he didn't know what. Then out of nowhere, Metal-heads began to poor into the city. Then screams and gun shots filled the air as the Metal-heads began to attack. They had been waiting for this moment, when the shield wall would be at its weakest. Alexander grabbed Selena and began to run, neither of them had a weapon and there were too many to fight hand to hand. They got to the guardrail but Metal-heads blocked both of their paths. Alexander and Selena looked down, they where a good fifteen feet up, then they looked at each other, "We have to jump." Alexander said, taking his wife's hand.

"Are you nuts?"

A growl made them looked behind them, Metal-heads were closing in on them. Alexander looked back at his wife, "You were saying?"

"Jumping is a good plan." She said quickly.

They jumped and hit the ground hard. Alexander got up and looked at his wife who was still on the ground. She looked up at him, "Al, I think my leg is broken. I can't get up."

He bent down to help her but then Metal-heads surrounded them. Alexander knew if there was even a chance of them getting out of there alive he had to fight. The first Metal-head attacked…

On the other end of the section, Erick had come across two young boys that looked like they were Ashelin's age. Both had thick brown hair and diamond blue eyes. The younger of the two, was crying for his parents while the older one held him to try to protect him. Erick looked at the boys, "Come on," he said, the boys looked up at him, "You have to get out of here."

"We were told to stay here." The youngest said.

"You'll get killed if you do that. Now come on."

"Our parents will find us." The older one said.

"This is ridiculous." Erick said as he picked both boys up.

"PUT ME DOWN!" The oldest cried. Erick ignored him.

Two other guards came to Erick and he handed both the boys over to them, "Get them out of here, and have every one fall back. We can't win this fight," He turned to leave, "I'm going to look for the King and Queen." The guards did as he said.

Alexander was tired, the Metal-heads just kept coming and they had taken some good hits at him. His shoulder was covered in blood as was his chest. Selena sat in horror as her husband put his life on the line for her, she didn't have a scratch. She wanted him to stop, to run and forget her. But he couldn't, he loved her too much and he didn't think he could live without her.

From exhaustion and lack of blood, Alexander fell to the ground, "**NO!**" Selena cried. She pulled herself over to him.

The Metal-heads just stood there, not because they were being respectful or because they felt sorry about what they had done, but because they liked watching the elves struggle. Alexander coughed up some blood, he reached up and touched his wife's face, "Selena…" he whispered.

"I'm right here." She said, taking his hand, tears filed her eyes.

"I love you and I'm so sorry that I couldn't protect you."

"I love you too." She said as the tears spilled onto her cheeks, "You don't have anything to be sorry about." She kissed him one last time and laid her head on his blood soaked chest, ready to die with him. Alexander pulled a Seal of Mar out of his pocket and held it tight in his hand. The Metal-heads attacked…

Erick looked all over and killed plenty of Metal-heads but couldn't find Alexander or Selena. Not only that but he was running out of bullets fast and then out of nowhere a green flash blinded him, he looked just in time to see the Metal-heads fall back outside the now broken city wall. Now Erick could look without fighting, after about a half an hour of looking he found something that made his heart sink, King Alexander and Queen Selena were dead. It seemed the Metal-heads had just wanted to kill them, not eat them but both of them were still covered in their own blood. He walked up closer to them and fell to his knees. He took off his helmet and looked at their blood soaked bodies. He hung his head and then his eyes found something in the king's hand, something made from precursor metal. Erick opened the king's hand and found the Seal of Mar. He stood up and understood, he was to take the Seal to Damas. Erick gave one last look at Alexander and Selena before walking back to the city.

When he got back, he found a number of guards waiting for him along with the two boys. The guards looked at him and understood; they all took off their helmets and hung their heads in grief.

Erick looked at the two boys, "What are your names?" He asked.

The oldest spoke up, "I'm Torn and this is my brother, Jim. Where are our parents?"

Erick looked at the boys, "I don't know. I'm sorry to say this but I fear they're dead."

"What?" Torn said, his face went pale. "No…" then he began to punch Erick in his stomach repeatedly- not that it did anything, "**It's your fault!**" He screamed as his brother cried, "**It's all your fault!**"

Erick looked at the boy, "I'm sorry, if there had been anything I could have done I would have done it." Another guard took the boys aside and tried to calm them down as Erick walked back to the palace. He found Damas and Molly in Damas' bedroom. He felt terrible about what he had to tell his best friend.

Damas and Molly looked up at him, "Erick you look terrible." Damas said, "Did something happen?" Erick didn't say anything, he walked up to Damas and handed him the Seal he had taken from Alexander. Damas looked at it and realized what it meant… his father was dead. He looked back at Erick, "Does my mother know?"

"Damas, they're both… gone." Erick said.

Molly clapped her hands to her mouth, "What? No, they can't be…" Damas walked out of the room, Molly and Erick watched him go, then Molly looked back at Erick, "What happened?"

"Metal-heads broke through the wall. I don't know what exactly happened; if I had been there maybe I could –"

"It wasn't your fault." She said. Then she followed Damas from the room to be at his side.

She found him in the throne room sitting on the top stair. Molly went up and sat next to him. He didn't look at her, he just kept looking at the room, "You know," he said after a while, "My dad used to let me play in here when I was younger. Sometimes he would play with me." He looked at Molly, "I can't believe he's gone, they're both gone." He hid is face in his hands.

Molly put her arms around him, "I'm sorry. I'm going to miss them too."

Damas put his arms around her and let tears fall down his face. "Molly, I don't know if I can do this." He whispered in her ear.

"Do what?" She asked.

"Be King, I can't do it."

"You won't have to do it alone; Erick and I are here, we will help you any way we can."

After a while, Damas went into his parents' room and put his father's Seal in a wooden box where it would stay until he had a child of his own, as tradition. Then he went to find Erick, he had to know what happened. He found Erick trying to comfort Ashelin after she had found out that Alexander and Selena were dead. Erick told Damas what he had told Molly. After hearing it was Metal-heads Damas turned from sadness to hate; the Metal-heads had to be stopped, this war had to end.

**Jet: Okay, that's the end of the chapter.**

**Penny: You are so mean!**

**Jet: I know. I didn't want to kill off Alexander and Selena; they were a lot of fun to work with.**

**Penny (Subject change): So what was in your bag?**

**Jet: My wallet with my ID, my MP3, My PSP, my cell phone, and my copies of the Lost Frontier and Daxter.**

**Penny: You left **_**all**_** that on a **_**train**_**?**

**Jet: Not to worry, I did get it all back from the lost and found. Then I saw the **_**Lion King **_**on Broadway . That was one of the best things I've ever seen; the way the circle of life was done made me cry, it had that much power to it. Hey, has anyone noticed that Jak and Daxter and the Lion King have a similar story line?**

**Penny: What do you mean?**

**Jet: I'll tell you at the end of the next chapter. Whenever I get it up. Readers, tell me what you think.**

**Penny: You're going to get hate mail.**

**Jet: I know.**


	6. To the Nest

Chapter 6: To the Nest

**Jet: Do I really have to say what happened in the last chapter? I really didn't want to kill them off.**

**Penny: Then why did you?**

**Jet(shrugging embarrassingly): I had to keep the story moving.**

**Penny: Just tell them what happened last time.**

**Jet: Okay, Damas and Molly finally tell each other that they are in love with one another. That part I did like. Then Damas finds out that he is betrothed to a random girl.**

**Penny: She was crazy!**

**Jet: I know. Anyway, so after the random psycho-girl tried to kill Molly she is pretty much kicked out of the story. Alexander and Selena see that Damas and Molly love each other and are happy for them. Then we get to the part that I don't want to talk about so maybe we could…**

**Penny: Selena and Alexander are killed by Metal-heads, because Selena broke her leg in a fall and Alexander refused to leave her behind.**

**Jet: Thinks Penny, anyway so Erick saves two young boys and the oldest is Torn; you know, the guy who grows up to be Ashelin's boy-friend. Torn begins to blame Erick for the death of his parents because he heard Erick give the order to fall back. Then Erick goes to the palace and gives Damas Alexander's Seal of Mar and Damas knows that his parents are dead.**

**Penny: so that means… he's the king.**

**Jet: Yep, but he doesn't want to be king.**

**Penny: hmmmmm, who does that sound like?**

**Jet: Anyway, Damas doesn't want to be king because he doesn't think he can do it on his own. But Molly tells him that he doesn't have to do it alone, that she and Erick will help him in any way they can. Then Damas finds out what happened in what is now Dead town and now he wants nothing more than to end the war, will he really end the war?**

**Penny: If he did then there wouldn't be a Jak II.**

**Jet: Shut up Penny.**

Two hours later, Erick was back in the old town with a red flag held in his hand. He looked around; it was so quiet… so dead. He walked into the old watch tower, he had to be quick; just because the Metal-heads had not returned yet didn't mean they would never come back. He walked up to the top of the tower and looked out over the area, he unrolled the flag he had brought and forced it into a crack in the cement, the flag was there as a reminder of what had happened that day, of the lives lost to the Metal-heads, there for the families that had been ripped apart by the Metal-heads for the people like Damas and Torn who had lost their parents because he couldn't do his job and protect them. Erick looked at the flag for a moment and then turned and walked back to the city.

Later that night at the palace, Molly and Erick were looking for Damas. They found him down in the kitchen, eating dinner by himself or rather moving the food around his plate miserably. Molly and Erick walked up to him. He looked at them, "Hey, guys." He said, not looking at them.

"Hey," Molly said. "You okay?" She asked, she knew he wasn't but she didn't know what else to say.

Damas looked at her, "What do you think?" He asked. "Both my parents are gone and they're never coming back. Not only that, but now I have to be king and I don't even want it."

Erick looked at his friend, feeling that this was partly his fault; he knew that there was nothing he could have done but if he had just been with them then maybe Alexander and Selena would still be alive. "Damas," he said, Damas looked at him. "I would give anything if I could bring them back, but I can't and I'm sorry. You're upset- and that's okay, but the city needs you to rule it. If you don't, then who will protect everyone from the Metal-heads?"

"I'm only seventeen, I can't run the city."

Molly put her arms around him, he looked at her, "You're not alone. We're here." She kissed him.

Then Ashelin came in and ran up to her father and hugged him. Erick looked down at her and picked her up; it was clear that she had been crying, he wiped the tear trails off her face. "I can't believe that grandma and grandpa are gone."

She wrapped her arms around Erick's neck and he held her tight, "It's okay, Ash." He looked at Damas and Molly, "Come on guys, they wouldn't want to see us like this." He said, trying to be a little stronger for Ashelin.

The little girl looked at Damas, "Uncle Damas, does this mean you're king now?"

Damas gave a half hearted smile, "Yeah, I'm the king now."

"And Aunt Molly is the queen, right?"

Molly and Damas looked at each other and laughed a little, "No Ashelin," Molly said, "I'm not the queen. I would have to marry Damas to be queen."

Ashelin looked confused, "You two love each other, right?"

"Yes…" They said at the same time.

"Then you should get married."

Damas smiled, "Ashelin, were a little young to get married."

"So, you are the king now- so you can do whatever you want."

"It's not the simple, Ashelin." Damas said.

Ashelin folded her arms, "Well it should be." Erick laughed at her which made her look at him, "Hey dad, if Uncle Damas is king, what does that makes you?" She asked.

"What do you mean?" Erick asked.

"Well Uncle Damas is king, does that mean you get a new job with a cool title?"

Erick shook his head but Damas smiled, Erick looked at him, "What's with you?" He asked, putting Ashelin down.

"I was just thinking, if I'm king, then I'm going to need a guard captain that I can trust and one that knows me."

Erick smiled, "Well, I would be honored."

After that, Erick took Ashelin away to get her something to eat. After her and Erick were gone, Damas went back to seeming depressed, Molly sat down next to him, "Hey, it's going to be okay." Damas didn't look at her, "You know you're not the only one who's hurt by them being gone." She looked away from him, "I feel like I've lost my mother again."

Damas looked at her as tears began to fall down her face. He had forgotten that his parents had treated her like a daughter most of her life, so their death hurt her just as much as it hurt him. He held her close. The two of them were quiet for a moment and then he looked at her, "You know," He said, "I think Ashelin was on to something earlier."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, there is no way I can run this city by myself. After all, there is a reason every king has a queen."

Molly looked at him, a little shocked, "Damas, I'm only fifteen–"

"I'm not saying we have to get married now." He kissed her, "But I can't see myself ever falling in love with anyone else. One day I would like to marry you, I know that won't be for a few more years but I need you at my side now."

She smiled and put her hand against his face, "I'll always be by your side. I'm just not ready to get married yet."

He kissed her again, "And that's alright. Besides, what do think the people will think if we did all of a sudden did get married?"

Molly laughed, "They most likely would think that I was pregnant."

Damas laughed as well, "Exactly, there is no way we could get married now, we're teenagers. But still there will be times when I will have to leave the city and I was hoping that you could take care of things until I got back."

Now Molly was a little confused, "When would you have to leave the city?"

"The Metal-heads have gone too far, this war has to end."

"What are you planning to do?"

"I'll go to nest; I'll kill the Metal-head leader myself."

Molly looked horrified, "Damas you can't! The Metal-head nest is an impenetrable fortress, even Mar himself couldn't get though. He died trying; I don't want that to happen to you."

Damas took both of her hands, "Molly, you have to keep in mind that he died _centuries_ ago, we have better technology and weapons now."

"But that doesn't mean you're invincible."

"I won't die. I'll take Erick with me; he won't let me get killed."

"No, he wouldn't." She said, trying to get him to see that what he was planning was suicide.

Damas hugged her, "Don't worry; nothing bad is going to happen. Just please understand this is something I need to do."

Molly hugged him back, "You better come back… both of you."

About two weeks later at the palace, Erick was getting ready to go to the Metal-head nest. Ashelin hugged her father as he prepared to go, "Dad, please be careful."

"I will be, don't be afraid, nothing will happen to me." Erick said.

Molly walked up to the two of them and took Ashelin's hand. She looked at Erick, "Erick, where's Damas, I haven't seen him all morning."

"He's not with you?"

"No. I'm worried."

"Well don't be, this is too important to him, he's not going to miss it."

"That's not what worries me. Erick, I'm afraid of you two never coming back."

"Molly don't worry, we'll both come back."

"Just make sure you two come back _alive_."

"Don't worry, I'll keep an eye on your boy-friend." He said, half laughing.

Molly couldn't help but laugh a little too, "You might want to keep both eyes on him."

"We'll see both of you tonight when we get back." Erick began to walk away. Ashelin ran up to him and handed him a small heart she had made out of paper. Erick took it and smiled a loving smile at his little girl. He knelt down and hugged her, "I love you." He said to her, then he stood up and left.

He got to the port where he found several air trains waiting to take many of the troops to the nest. Erick looked around as he walked to the main air train where he knew he would find Damas. As he walked he saw many people saying good bye to their families; Erick knew that not all of them were coming back and another part of them would be coming back in body bags, but with any form of luck, that would mean the end of this war. Erick looked at the paper heart in his hand that Ashelin had given him; he and Damas _had_ to come back.

He found Damas sitting in the air train, alone. Damas looked up at him, "Hey Erick." He said.

Erick went to sit next to him. He lightly punched him in the shoulder, "You okay?" He asked, Damas didn't answer. Erick knew that nothing was right but there was nothing he could about it so he tried to change the subject to something other than the deadly mission they were about to go on, "Why didn't you talk to Molly this morning?"

He took a deep breath, "I didn't want to say good bye."

"What are you talking about? It's not like _you're_ going to die."

"Erick, either I'm going to kill the Metal-head leader or I'm not coming back."

Erick glared at him, "Yes you are, I'm not going to just let you get killed out there. Here's the way I see it: if we take the Metal-head leader on together, then there is no way we can't win." Damas smiled; Erick was right, if he and Erick took the leader on together then there was no way they could lose. Several guards got on the train and it took off.

The air trains landed on the outside of the nest where there were fewer Metal-heads. Everyone marched out and Damas began to lead all of them to the nest, each guard armed with a gun. As they walked they all saw old tanks that had been there for years, left over's from the last time a descendant of Mar had led solders into the nest. This dropped the hopes of some of the guards of ever seeing home and their love ones again.

They got to Mar's old gun and everyone stopped, "What now?" Erick asked.

Damas looked at him, "The Metal-heads have to get out of the nest somehow right? We just have to find out how, that's how we'll get in." Damas began to lead them around the border of the nest. As they walked, Damas found it strange that no one had seen a single Metal-head the whole time they had been there, '_Where could they be?_' as if to answer his unasked question, Metal-heads began to fall out of the sky, and climb down walls. Instantly the guards went into action, gun fire and cries from both the Metal-heads and elves filled the air as the two sides clashed. Damas found himself shooting down Metal-head after Metal-head until his gun ran out of shots. Somehow the beasts seemed to know when he has run out of shots- because they moved closer to him, one hit him and he fell to the ground. The Metal-head was ready to crush him but he rolled out of the way. The beast looked at Damas, angry that it's prey was not at that moment lying dead under its feet.

The Metal-head jumped at Damas but then out of nowhere a gun shot hit the beast in the head and it fell dead. Damas looked, and was glad to see Erick, "When are you going to learn?" he asked, helping Damas up.

Damas half laughed, but then he saw a huge Metal-head coming at them. It was the biggest Metal-head Damas had ever seen, standing about forty to fifty feet tall. It swung its huge tail, and took out several guards. Then another showed up and another, at this point Damas knew that it was a mistake coming here and knew that there was no way in hell he was going to get into the nest. He called for his troops to fall back to the air ships, many guards did not need telling twice.

Erick and Damas looked at the three huge Metal-heads then Erick looked at Damas, "Hey, let's try to take down one of these things."

Damas looked at Erick, "You're crazy!" He shouted.

"And you're not?" Erick asked.

Damas smiled and the two of them went to fight. Damas picked up one of the dropped guns, hoping it had some shots left. Some of the troops had stayed to watch, ready to take action if their king said. The two of them began to shoot the closest one, the first few shots had little to no effect but then the beast began to seem a little agitated by the shots. It's swung its huge tail at them, Damas ducked but Erick got hit full force by the tail and was thrown into the air. Damas watched as his best friend hit the rock and fell to the ground, blood beginning to pore from his head. Erick lay lifeless on the ground, Damas yelled for the guards to help and some of them ran to get Erick and other ran to the aid of their king. Damas glared at the Metal-head, he was going to kill the huge beast if it was the last thing he did. He shot at it, now aiming for its head, the guards followed him and also started to shoot at it. When Damas had run out of shots he threw down the gun and picked up a long, sharp rock and ran at the Metal-head. With so many people shooting at it, the Metal-head didn't know where to look and didn't see Damas come up to it. He ran behind it and grabbed its tail and got onto its back, he got up to the head and the Metal-head tried to throw him off but somehow Damas stayed on. He shoved the rock between the skull gem and the beast's skin and pulled back on it forcing the huge gem out of its head. The guards ran as blood poured out, the beast fell and Damas jumped off as it fell. The other Metal-heads had cleared out, Damas stood and looked at the great beast he had taken down, he couldn't believe it. The guard looked at him and then he came to his senses, they were still in the Metal-head nest after all. He called for them to head back to the trains and they did.

Damas found the air train Erick was in, he looked half dead. The only thing that gave away the fact that he was alive was that he was breathing; he had a thick bandage wrapped around his head and his left eye. Damas looked at him knowing that this was his entire fault. Through some miracle Erick stayed alive long enough for them to get back to the city and he was rushed to the hospital.

Back at the palace, Molly and Ashelin were playing games to keep their spirits up. Then Molly's cell phone went off in her pocket, "Hello?" She said.

"Molly." Damas' voice said on the other end.

"Damas!" Molly half screamed, over-joyed to hear his voice again.

"Listen, you and Ashelin have to get to the hospital as fast as you can." He said.

"Why? What happed? Are you alright?" She asked.

"I'm fine, it's Erick. He's… just come, please. I need you."

"Alright we'll be there." She said, then she hung up and looked at Ashelin.

"What's going on?" She asked.

"Were going to the hospital now." Molly said, taking Ashelin's hand. The two of them got to the hospital and found Damas sitting outside the ER. Molly ran to him and hugged him, he hugged her back.

Ashelin looked around the room but she didn't see her father, "Where's my dad?" She asked. Damas looked at the six year old. He pulled away from Molly and went over to Ashelin; he picked her up and hugged her. "Uncle Damas, where is my father?" She asked again.

Damas sat down on the bench and put Ashelin on his knee, "Ashelin, I'm so sorry."

"Where is he?" She asked, tears filling her green eyes. Damas couldn't bring himself to say it, he pointed to ER door. Ashelin looked at the door and then back at Damas, "He's going to be okay, right?" She asked. Damas hugged her again. Molly came and sat next to them.

Many hours later, Ashelin had fallen asleep in Damas' lap. The door opened and a nurse walked out, Damas handed the sleeping kid to Molly and went to talk to the nurse, "How is he?" Damas asked.

"He'll live." She said, "We had to replace his left eye, top of his head and part of his nose and ear with metal but he will live."

"Can we see him?"

"He's still asleep. It would be best if you went home, sire. We'll call if he wakes up."

"Thank you." Damas said, then he walked back to Molly and Ashelin.

"Well?" Molly asked. Damas explained what he had been told and they went home.

The next day, Damas, Molly and Ashelin went back to the hospital and waited for Erick to wake up. When he did a nurse came and told them and Ashelin took off to her father's room. She ran in and found him lying on the bed half awake, she saw the metal that covered most of his face. Erick, half opening his one remaining eye, looked at her and smiled. She ran to him and hugged him; he gave her a one arm hug. Damas and Molly came in and saw Erick; his brown hair was gone and replaced with metal. Damas and Molly walked up to the bed and Erick looked at them.

"How are you doing?" Damas asked.

"Fine." Erick said, "I have a splitting head –" he stopped because he had reached up to his head and found the metal plate on his head that also covered his eye. "What's happened to me?" He asked.

"Erick, I'm so sorry." Damas said. "This is my fault and I am so sorry."

"Don't be, I'm still alive aren't I?"

"How did this happen?" Molly asked. Damas and Erick explained what had happened, but then Erick found himself falling back to sleep. Damas took Ashelin's hand and led her out of the room, to her dismay. About a month later Erick left the hospital and returned to the palace, where he found Ashelin waiting for him.

**Jet: Well, that's the end of the chapter and to be honest I'm glad the chapter is over.**

**Penny: Really, well now you can tell us what is the same between Jak and Daxter and the Lion King.**

**Jet: Well, for one both are about a Prince from a very loving family but do to the jelous Uncle figure, the Prince is forced from his home and grows up in a tropical paradise. Another big thing is on Broadway, Max Casella played Timon and as we all should know Max is the only actor to be in all six Jak and Daxter games, he has played Daxter's voice since the beginning. Both Daxter and Timon are the funny, big moth, best friend who will stick by the hero no matter what. Then after the prince has grown up and lived a care free life he returns home to find it a wreack and now has to save it, and then there is the fact that Jak and Keira are meant for each other just as Simba and Nala are meant for each other. Not only that but Damas is **_**so**_** Mufasa, does anyone want to argue with me on this?**

**Penny: Wow, you're good.**

**Jet: Thanks, Now tell me what you think, with this chapter I was up until one o'clock so I hope it's a good one. Keep an eye out for chapter seven.**


	7. Things change

Chapter 7: Things change

**Jet: Recap time, so after Alexander and Selena's deaths; Damas, Molly, Erick and Ashelin are all heartbroken. We all know about the first mission Torn sent Jak on to get the banner from the top of the old tower; well Erick had put that banner up as a reminder of the tragedy that had happened there, did Torn know that? Who knows? Jak definitely didn't. Anyways, Damas knew that his father's death makes him the king and he is unsure about ruling the city; Molly feels like she has lost her mother again; Ashelin is just flat out upset and Erick tries to make them feel better by hiding the fact that he is just as upset as they are. Ashelin had asked that if Damas is the king then is Molly the queen- and this change in subject seems to be what they needed. Molly points out that she is not the queen because she is not married to Damas. The six year old can see that they love each other and tell them that they should get married but Molly points out that she and Damas are too young to get married. Erick takes Ashelin to another part of the palace and Damas and Molly are alone. Damas thinks that Ashelin may have been onto something and he doesn't really ask her to marry him, he asked her to take the "responsibility" as queen. Molly seeing this as him asking her to marry him, points out to him that she is only fifteen and not ready to get married. Damas is okay with this because he wasn't asking her to marry him- but at the same time he kinda was, he was asking if she just be there for the city when he has to leave it. Molly asked him why he would have to leave the city and he tells her that he feels he has to end the war and that he is going to the Metal-head's nest to do just that. Molly tells him that this is suicide but he goes anyways, along with Erick and other guards. So in a nut shell, the Metal-heads attack and Erick gets hurt, Damas is mad about this and kills the huge Metal-head that had attacked his best friend. So that is how half of Erick's face is replaced with Metal. One more thing, I'm jumping ahead ten years so now Damas is 27, Molly is 25, Erick is 31 and Ashelin is 16. Okay, let's get going.**

Within the ten years that passed after the death of Alexander and Selena, Damas had managed to run the city pretty well with Molly and Erick helping him. The three of them had grown a lot in the last ten years, Damas and Erick were about the same height while Molly was still shorter than them by about a foot. The way all three of them looked had changed a lot too, Molly had her hair pulled back in a high pony-tail but like when she was a teenager she left her bangs down to frame her face, she wore a strapless shirt that was somewhat of a dark pink color, it had a blue ribbon around her waist but under the ribbon the shirt split, it ended just before it reached her hips, she had brown pants that tucked into her combat boots.

Damas looked different as well, but not that much; his hair didn't look that different other than the fact that it was just a little longer, it fell down to the middle of his neck and he kept it tucked behind his ears other than that it looked the same as it always had. His clothing wasn't that different either, other then the fact that his shirt has sleeves, but other than that he didn't look that different they still had the same sandy colors they always had.

Erick hadn't changed too much either, after what happened at the nest ten years ago his face was permanently changed. He was half blind and although he had not completely lost his hearing in his left ear he still had a hard time hearing in that ear. He had managed to grow a small beard and a mustache and Molly had to admit that it didn't look bad on him. But aside from that he was still the same as ever.

Ashelin had changed the most out of all of them. She was no longer the sweet and innocent little girl she had been ten years ago; she was now a strong, independent young woman. She had convinced her father to let her go to the Guard Academy when she was twelve and was now a guard. Unlike her father, she had gotten the tattoos like all the other guards. Erick still worried about her, after all she was only sixteen that was how old he was when he started at the Academy. Not only that, but that was how old he was when she had come into his life and it didn't help when he overheard her talking to Molly about a boy in her classes that she liked. What worried him was the fact that he had never met the boy, Ashelin didn't even talk about him in front of her father.

Damas and Molly spent as much time as they could with each other– alone, that wasn't much time but there was nothing either of them could do about that Damas was the king and although the city saw Molly as the queen she wasn't and there were things that Damas had to do without her because she wasn't actually the queen. But he wanted to change that, he wanted her to be his queen, his wife. However, the problem was that although he could fight an army of Metal-heads without any fear he couldn't ask the woman he loved to marry him. He knew she wouldn't say 'no,' that wasn't the issue. The problem was if they had a child. There were things about his family that only he knew, things he had never told her like the secret house in the city or what happened to every woman in his family after they had their first child. There was a reason why Damas never had any siblings. But the more he thought about this the more he started to just think about how much he loved Molly and how much he wanted to marry her. He had to ask her.

He found himself thinking about this near the end of a council meeting one day. He was glad when it finally ended and headed for the door knowing that Molly would be waiting for him just outside of it. However as he made his way to the door he found his way blocked by Veger. Veger started to rant to the king about the catacombs- as Damas felt he always did, it seems that being made the head man of the council just furthered the man's dream to bring down the palace even more.

Molly was waiting for Damas just outside of the council room, she was not too happy when he came out with Veger following him. Molly really didn't like Veger and it didn't help that Veger was talking about his twisted dream again, "Sire, if you just listen to what I have found, you'll see that the catacombs do exist and that they are the key to saving this great city."

Damas rolled his eyes, "Count Veger, Why would I want to bring down my home to chase a myth?"

"But it's not a myth they are down there."

Damas saw Molly and then looked back at Veger, "Count Veger, we're done talking about this." He began to walk away, "I'll see you at the next meeting."

He left Veger standing there and went over to Molly and embraced her. She gladly returned his embrace and then looked up at him with a smile, "Do I even want to know what happened this time?" She asked.

Damas smiled at her, "You know I can't tell you even if did ask."

The two of them started to walk down the hall, "I don't get that."

"What's not to get? You're not a part of the council in any way," he looked away from her, "and you're not the queen, so I can't tell you."

"And I don't understand why."

He looked back at her, "That's just the way it's been since my great-grandfather started the council."

Molly crossed her arms, "So you can't tell me anything because it tradition… it's the rules."

"Sort of." He said.

Molly sighed and looked up at him, "What happened to the boy that didn't _care_ about the rules?"

"He grew up." Damas looked down at her, "Do you really want to know what happened? It was kinda boring really."

Molly shrugged, "No, I don't really want to know, I just hate the fact that you can't tell me everything anymore."

"I do too."

The two of them walked to Selena's old garden which Molly had been taking care of. Molly went over to the over sized fly traps and patted one before walking to the barrier with Damas. They both sat on it as the sun began to set behind them, Damas held her close, "You have no idea how much I wish I could tell you everything." He whispered in her ear.

"Well why can't you? What is really stopping you?"

Damas looked at her; what _was_ stopping him? He embraced her. He loved her so much, he wanted to ask her to be his wife but before he did that he had to tell him what became of ever other woman in his family, "Molly, there is something I need to talk to you about."

"What is it?" She asked, as she wrapped her arms around him.

He looked at her, "Molly, there are things you don't know about my family, things I haven't told you." Molly didn't say anything, she just looked at him. "Not that I've been hiding this from you," he said, "it's just that this has never really come up."

"Whatever it is, you can tell me," She said.

Damas rubbed the back of his head, "I know, it's just that this is coming out of nowhere."

Molly smiled, "Well I'm interested now, so you may as well tell me."

"Well… see…" Damas was seriously questioning what he was doing; "there is a _'curse'_ of some sorts with my family."

"A curse?" Molly asked, "I didn't know you believed in that kind of thing."

"Well that's what my mother called it when she told me about this. See, every woman in my family for some reason never couldn't have more than one child."

"Why?"

"No one knows. Just for some odd reason after the woman had a kid she wasn't able to carry anymore." Molly looked at him a little confused. Damas shook his head with a bit of a laugh, "I think she told me that because she didn't want me making the same mistake Erick did when he was sixteen."

"Why are you telling me this?" Molly asked.

Damas took both her hands, "I just wanted you to know because I wanted to ask–"

"Damas, there you are." A man's voice cut him off.

Damas and Molly looked over at him as he came up, "What is it, Erick?" Damas asked, trying to fight back the feeling of pushing his best friend off the palace at the moment.

"You're needed in the throne room for… I don't know what."

Damas sighed and looked at Molly a little sad, "We'll talk later."

"Oh, okay." She said.

She watched him walk away and then she glared at Erick. "What?" He asked after a moment.

Molly didn't say a word to him, she just walked away. As she walked around the palace her heart was going a mile a minute, she couldn't help but think about what Damas wanted to ask her. Deep down she was sure she knew that he was about to ask her to marry him. If only Erick had just waited a little longer… but maybe she was getting her hopes up, maybe that wasn't what he wanted to ask her. But then why would he have told her about what happened to all the other women in the family? After that came into her mind she started to think about what if she and Damas did get married and then what if they did have a child. She couldn't deny that she and Damas having a family wasn't something she hadn't given thought to. Curse or no curse she wanted to have a family with him and one child would be enough for her. No; her problem was… could she really be a good mother? Her mother had died when she was a toddler and even though Selena had been like a mother to her she could never replace her real mother. Molly pushed that thought from her head, her and Damas weren't even engaged, it was a little early to be thinking about a child. She more pushed her thought to if he did ask her…

She was lost in her thoughts as she walked and didn't even take notice Ashelin when she passed her, "Aunt Molly," Ashelin said, seeing that Molly was in almost a trance. She walked in front of her, "is something wrong?"

"What?" Molly asked, being pulled from her thoughts, "no Ashelin, nothing's wrong."

"Well there's something on your mind." Ashelin said walking next to her.

Molly smiled at Ashelin, "It's nothing really." The two of them walked, "So, what is going on with that boy-friend of yours?" Molly asked.

Ashelin's face tuned redder then her hair, "Torn is not my boy-friend!" The younger she-elf exclaimed.

Molly laughed, "Ashelin, the way you talk about him tells me he is your boy-friend. Unless there is another boy you're crushing on."

Ashelin started to twist some of her hair with her finger, "Well… no, there isn't another boy but I'm not dating Torn."

"Yet." Molly added.

Ashelin shook her head, "I don't even know if he thinks that way about me. Besides there's no way that it would ever work with us."

"How come?"

"He hates my father, so –"

"Ashelin," Molly said, putting her hands on her hips, "Your father shouldn't impact your love life the way you're letting him. Not only that, but why do you think that Torn hates your father?"

"Because when the Metal-heads attacked ten years ago his parents were killed and he says that if my father hadn't pulled back then he and his brother wouldn't have ended up in the orphanage."

"Ashelin, you know that your father didn't have a choice about what happened that day and you know how guilty he still feels about that day."

"Yeah, I know, but Torn doesn't. He told me that about a year later his brother got adopted leaving him to grow up alone in the orphanage. He blames my father for how his life turned out."

"Oh Ashelin, if anything, Torn likes you. I don't think what your father did will change that."

Ashelin looked at her, "Do you really think so?"

"Yes I do."

Ashelin hugged Molly, "Thanks Aunt Molly."

Later, just outside the throne room, Damas and Erick were walking, Erick looked at his friend, "Hey did I interrupt something earlier?"

Damas glared at him, "Kind of, why?"

"Because after you left, Molly looked like she wanted to kill me."

"She did?" Damas asked, intrigued.

"Yeah…" Erick said, taken back by Damas reaction, "What were you two talking about?"

Damas laughed, "I was going to ask her to marry me."

"Oh…" Erick said, feeling bad that he had interrupt, "Sorry."

"Don't worry about it, she's most likely figured it out by now."

"So are you going to ask her again?"

"Yeah and this time leave us _**alone**_." Damas said with a threatening look.

"Okay okay." Erick said with a bit of a laugh, "Ashelin and I can go patrol outside the city. That should give you and Molly plenty of time to talk and do uh… who knows what?" Erick said, bouncing his one eye brow. Damas promptly punched him in the shoulder.

So Erick and Ashelin left to patrol outside the city wile Damas went to look for Molly. He found her sitting in her room reading; just like when they were teenagers he snuck up behind her taking care not let her know he was there, which seeing how wrapped up she was in her book, it was very easy. He snuck up right behind her chair; she didn't know he was there. He lightly ran a finger up her arm causing her to jump and squeak suddenly. Damas laughed as she glared at him and got up. "Damas! What is wrong with you?" She half yelled as she began to hit him with her book.

Damas just laughed then he grabbed the book out of her hands before she could hit him again, "Nothing, that's just funny."

Molly smiled, "Your horrible." She said with a bit of a laugh and then she wrapped her arms around the elf's neck and pressed her lips to his.

Damas threw the book onto the chair and then wrapped his arms around her and began to kiss her back. Molly pulled away from him a little too soon for his liking, "What is it?"

"It's just, every time we start to have a small moment someone comes and takes you away from me." She walked over to the door, closed it and locked it, "I just don't want that to happen this time." She walked back over to him and they went back to their simple kissing.

Erick and Ashelin were outside the city; patrolling the border, looking for any Metal-heads. After about an hour the two of them started to think that for once there weren't any Metal-heads anywhere near the city.

In truth, Erick had brought Ashelin out there to talk to her. He looked at her, "So… what is it with this "mystery boy" you keep talking to Molly about?"

Ashelin looked at her father in shock, "How do you know about him?"

"I really don't know about him, you won't tell me about him."

"Well… you sort of already met him."

"What?" Erick asked, but Ashelin didn't get a chance to answer for just then about ten Metal-heads appeared. Ashelin and Erick began to shoot at them but what the two elves didn't know was the big Metal-heads were a diversion as a smaller type of Metal-head called a Stringer crawled up behind them. First it crawled up Ashelin's back and stung the back of her neck under her helmet. She fell as the toxin quickly began to work on her, she fell unconscious. Erick looked at her and saw the small Metal-head and stepped on it and then looked at his daughter, he held her in his arms and took off her helmet he didn't even notice when anther Stringer crawled up his back and stung him making him fall unconscious as well. As soon as the two elves were out, several flying Metal-heads came down and picked them up and carried them off.

Erick woke in a strange place, he looked at the floor and for some odd reason it had a purple tint; he looked up and almost hoped he was just in nightmare for he found himself face to face with the Metal-head leader. The leader hung from the roof of the cave they were in over a hole in the ground, he was like nothing Erick had ever seen in his life, a huge beast. Instinctively, Erick reached for his gun but found it wasn't there. The leader laughed, "Now now, We wouldn't want anything to happen to your little girl would we Erick?" The Metal-head leader moved to reveal a large glowing ball with Ashelin inside apparently asleep.

"**Ashelin!**" Erick exclaimed, "What have you done to her and how do you know me?"

"She is fine, do not fear. As for how I know you well, let's not waste time. I'm in need of your service."

"Why would I help you?" Erick asked.

"Do you not care for the life of your daughter?"

Erick looked at Ashelin and then back at the leader, "What do you want?" He asked.

"Eco. What else? My kind needs it too survive, without it we will all be gone in a year or two."

"Why me?"

"Your are close enough to the king that you can get us what we need easily."

"So, what, you're not going to give me back my daughter unless I betray my city?"

The leader bared it fangs in what could have been a smile, "Oh no, you both will be leaving here but know that unless we get our eco soon she will die." Erick stared at the leader shocked, "You see, your daughter was given a much strong dose of venom and it is slowly destroying her."

"How much time do I have?" Erick asked. But the leader just bared his fangs again and Ashelin floated to Erick. He caught her, "How will I get the eco to you and how much?"

"As much as you can, the sewers will do nicely we will find a way to you. We'll be waiting."

Then flying Metal-heads came down and picked Erick and Ashelin up and began to fly them back to the city.

Back at the palace, unknowing of what their friend was going though, Damas and Molly were lost in thoughts of each other. Glad to be together, just sitting on the windowsill. Every once in a while Damas would kiss Molly on her neck or her shoulder just because he could. Not that Molly minded this, in fact she liked it, "I love you." She breathed as he kissed her again.

"I love you too." He whispered in her ear.

Then he pulled away from her, she turned to look at him, "What is it?" She asked, not really wanting him to move away from her.

He took both her hands and looked at her, "Oh Molly, I love you so much." Damas knelled down onto one knee so now he was looking up at her, "Will you marry me?" He asked.

Molly was speechless, '_was this real? Could it be real?_'She looked at him as tears filled her eyes, "Yes." She breathed, her tears spilling onto her cheeks, "Yes, I will marry you."

Damas got up, wrapped his arms around her and then kissed her. Molly gladly kissed him back, she couldn't believe it, her and Damas where really going to get married, she was really going to marry the King of Haven city. After the two of them pulled apart they just embraced each other, "You just made me the happiest man in the world." Damas said, holding her close. Molly couldn't say anything, she just let her tears run down her cheeks. Just glad.

Erick took Ashelin back to the palace and put her in her room and laid her in her bed and covered her with a blanket so it looked like she was asleep. Then he went to the power plant where all the eco for the city was kept. He hated himself for doing this, but he didn't have a choice, he had to for his daughter. He didn't know how much time she had so he had to do this tonight. Erick found a room filled with barrels of eco, now the only question was how was going to get the eco to the sewers without being caught. As a form of an answer: he heard a growling coming from under the floor, he found a sewer grate and opened it and then the Metal-head began to climb up and take the eco. One Metal-head came up to Erick and gave him a glass vial and then the Metal-heads fell back into the sewers. Erick closed the grate and returned to the palace, now having what he needed to save his daughter. When Erick got back to the palace and went to Ashelin's room, she looked pale. He gave her the antidote and almost instantly the color came back into her face… she was going to be alright. Erick left her to sleep: he walked out and closed the door. He could never tell anyone what had happened, this was something he would take to his grave. The Metal-heads had to pay; it was one thing to mess with him but another to try to kill his daughter. Erick walked down the hall and found Damas and Molly together just walking, they passed each other and Damas smiled at Erick. Erick smiled back, knowing what Damas finally asked. At least the night hadn't been all bad.

**Jet: Well that's the end of the chapter. To be honest, I wanted to end it with Damas asking Molly to marry him but I had to add that bit with Metal-heads. Oh well, I think it went over okay.**

**Penny: So he started to work with the Metal-heads to save Ashelin?**

**Jet: Yep, that's a bit of a twist.**

**Penny: Damas didn't give Molly a ring.**

**Jet: Yeah, see ****Precursians don't give wedding rings mostly because I think rings aren't necessary, they are unneeded and cost way too much money if I get married I'll be happy with 25 cent ring because I'm looking for love not jewelry. Oh and something I don't think was very clear, the small Metal-heads were the ones that look like scorpions. ****So readers tell me what you think. This was another late night chapter but I still think it's good. Don't know when the next chapter will be up so talk to you all then.**


	8. A New Begging

Chapter 8: A new begging

**Jet: So in the last chapter, we find that Veger is now the head of the counsel and is now the ugly old man we all know and hate from Jak 3. Okay, he's not as old as he is in Jak 3 but he's still just as ugly, he still wants to bring down the palace to find the catacombs. He keeps talking to Damas about it and Damas really couldn't care less about what he had to say. Damas meets up with Molly and the two of them go to Selena's old garden which- thanks to Molly- is still alive. There Damas tells her that every woman in his family for some reason could only have one child, he tells her this because he wants her to know this before he asks her to marry him but right when he is about to ask Erick comes and ruins the moment.**

**Penny: What a jerk.**

**Jet: Anyway, so Damas has to go take care of something and Molly meets up with Ashelin and talks to her about her love life. Then Erick finds out about what's going on with Damas and Molly and feels bad. So Erick and Ashelin go patrolling outside the city and they are completely alone. Then Metal-heads show up and one of the smaller ones poisons them and they are taken to the nest where Erick comes face to face with the Metal-head leader. The leader tells him that if he wants to save Ashelin's life that Erick must get them eco. Erick, having no other choice, agrees. At the same time Damas and Molly are having a small moment together and finally Damas asks Molly to marry him. Do I even have to tell you that she says yes? Erick gets the Metal-heads the eco and Ashelin's life is saved now Erick is wants nothing more than to see the end of the Metal-heads. Well that's it, on with the chapter. **

One month had passed since Molly had agreed to marry Damas and the two of them couldn't believe that the wedding was just three weeks away. It was amazing how fast a wedding could be put together when that wedding was for the King and the woman who was going to be his Queen. For the two of them it seemed that time was moving in slow motion, everyday seemed to be longer and longer. Molly had already gotten her dress and- more as a joke- Damas kept trying to get a peek at it, but every time he was caught by Molly.

Erick was happy for his friends, he hadn't told them about what he had done for a number of reasons; the first was he saw how happy they were not knowing and he didn't want to wreak that, the other reason was because if anyone found out that he had helped the Metal-heads his life would be over. So he kept it to himself, even Ashelin didn't know what happened and he was going to keep it that way and tried to forget about it himself by turning his thoughts to his friend's upcoming wedding. But every so often he couldn't help but to think of new ways to destroy the Metal-heads.

One day he came across a strange older man, he had sleeked black-gray hair, he wore a lab coat and yellow gloves. Erick had heard of this man and of what he was selling, a machine that could turn a man into a dark-eco-powered super-solider. Erick didn't tell anyone about this so he went to talk to the man on his own. "So tell me, how does this machine of yours work?"

"It's very simple, just take anyone off the street, strap them to the table and then just start pumping them with dark eco."

"How do you know that this works?"

The man laughed, "Have you ever heard of the brink?"

"You mean the edge of the world? I don't even think it exists."

"Oh I assure you, it does. I lived there. See, I lived in a grand city and we were fighting a war, and much like with your war- we were losing. With my scientific genius and the help of the Dark eco sage, we created this," he pulled out a diagram, "The Dark Warrior project."

Erick took the diagram and looked at it, "And this worked?"

"Yes, until my son took the Dark eco sage and hid him away, not that it mattered. We still had enough dark warriors to win the war and after the war ended I took the project and left; I've been looking for someone to sell it to for years." Erick looked back at the diagram, "Ask yourself," the older elf said, "can you really afford _not_ to take my offer?"

Erick looked at the man, "How much do you want for it?"

After Erick had agreed to pay the man he left, but Erick couldn't shake the feeling he was being followed.

At the palace, Damas and Molly when having another small moment sitting on a window sill, Damas held her close and kissed her exposed skin; her shoulders, her neck. "I love you." He breathed.

"I love you too." She said. "I can't believe our wedding is in three weeks."

"I know."

"I wish we were married now."

"Me too." He kissed her again. "At least our wedding isn't too far away." Damas looked at her, for some reason she looked sad. "Molly, is something wrong?" He asked, concerned.

"I just know my father isn't going to be there. I just wish that he could have understood how I felt." She felt tears fill her eyes and fall down her face, "I didn't really think about it all those years ago but when I left… I probably really hurt him."

Damas held her tighter; this was the first time he had heard her talk about her father since she had run away from home. "It's okay, Molly. My parents aren't going to be there either…" He looked away from her.

Molly put her hand to his face, he held it and looked at her, "You know they would have been happy to see us together." She hugged him, "And I know they're watching us."

Damas smiled, "And I know your mother is doing the same." They kissed.

"I love you." She breathed.

"I love you too." He paused.

"What is it?" She asked.

"Well you're going to be my wife so I have to tell you about the safe house."

"The safe house?"

"Yeah, but you can't tell anyone about it, not even Erick or Ashelin."

"Why?"

Damas explained that the safe house was if anything happened that put the lives of the royal family in danger, the family would go there and wait for the king to come and tell them it was safe, and if anyone outside of the family found out where in the city it was then they would be in grave danger. Molly understood and promised not to tell anyone.

Ashelin was sitting in the brake room at the fortress; she sat alone at one of the tables, that is until Torn came up and sat next to her. She looked at him, she had been thinking about telling him who her father was, he had to know, "Hi." She said.

"Hi," he said back, "You look like something is on your mind."

She sighed sadly, "Torn, if someone in my family did something bad would still see me as a friend?"

"Sure, as long as you didn't have anything to do with it. Why?"

She looked away from him; she just couldn't bring herself to tell him, "It's nothing. I just… -never mind."

She got up to leave, but Torn grabbed her arm, "Ashelin, what is it?"

She looked at him, "Okay, you remember that guard you told me about, the one that you hate?"

"Yeah, what about him?"

"Well… he's my father."

"WHAT? Your father?" He exclaimed. Ashelin couldn't look at him, she didn't have to- his tone said it all. She pulled her arm out of his grip and began to run away, he most likely never wanted to talk to her again. She ran into the nearest rest room she could find and locked the door and started to cry, _why did she tell him?_

She stayed in there for over an hour. When she finally did come out she was surprised to find Torn standing next to the door waiting for her, she looked away from him. He walked up to her, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you." She said. "I just knew how much you hated him so I thought if you knew I was realted to him that you –"

He hugged her to shut her up, "Ashelin, I don't care who your father is or what he did. It's you I care about. You didn't have anything to do with what happened that day." She hugged him back.

Later that day Erick was sitting in one of the bars in the city. He finished his alcohol beverage and then walked over to one of the tables where a young man was sitting. Erick looked down at the teenager; he had orange hair and looked a little scrawny. He had a mask on top of his head so looking down at him Erick couldn't see his face. "What are you up to kid?" Erick asked.

"What do you mean?" The teen asked.

"I mean you've been fallowing me all day, why? And how did a teenager get into a bar?"

The teen looked up at him, he had the tattoos on his face that told Erick that he was a guard, "I have my way, I am a guard after all."

Erick sat down across from him, "You look a little young to be a guard."

The younger elf laughed, "Yeah well I'm sixteen, that's old enough."

"All right, all right, what's your name?"

"Errol."

"All right Errol, you want to tell me why you've been following me all day?"

Errol laughed again, "I was told you're the key to my destiny."

Erick laughed, "What crack job told you that?"

"The old soothsayer in the bazaar, Onin and her bird."

"Sorry to tell you this, but if you're listening to an old hag and her pet bird then you need help and I can't give it to you."

Erick got up and started to walk away, "You know, I wonder what the King would say if _someone_ tells him that his most trusted guard is making back ally deals behind his back."

Erick looked at him and smiled. "You're good. Alright, I've got nothing to lose. I'll let you tag along." Erick called for the barmaid and she brought over a bottle of beer and a bottle of soda. Errol reached for the beer, but when Erick grabbed the beer Errol grabbed the soda like that was what he was going for in the first place. The two of them drank.

The night before the wedding was party night, Ashelin had set up a bachelorette party for Molly with the other female guards and she had talked Erick into putting together a bachelor party for Damas with some of the male guards. (Bachelor and bachelorette parties for Precursians do not usually have strippers, instead it is more for men getting drunk and women to talking to the soon-to-be bride of what she hopes the marriage will be like.)

"Oh Molly you are so lucky." One of the female guards said.

Molly smiled, "Thank you."

"I can't believe you really are going to be the queen." Another said.

"I know, I can't believe it either."

"I knew it was going to happen eventually." Ashelin said.

Molly looked at her, "I know, you're the one who suggested it in the first place."

"What?" Everyone asked, unbelieving. Molly just laughed at all of their faces.

With the guys, most of them where already drunk. The only one who really wasn't drinking was Damas. Erick went over to him, "Hey what's with you?" He asked taking another drink.

Damas looked at him, "Nothing," he took a small drink, "I just don't think I should have a hang-over on my wedding day, that's all."

"Hey, it's your party." Erick said taking another drink, "Your last night of freedom as most people call it." Damas looked at him and shook his head; clearly the alcohol was starting to get to him.

Damas looked away from his friend, his last night of freedom? '_No_' he thought, '_I haven't felt free since I was seventeen years old._' He took another small drink.

Back with the women, they all were laughing about random things. One of them came over to Molly, "So, you and your soon-to-be husband talk about kids yet?" She asked.

Molly went a little red, "Well no, not really."

"What?" Some of the others said, "Well _do_ you want kids?" One of them asked her.

Molly smiled, "Well, yes I do. I've been thinking about what it could be like, being a mother."

"Yes, and the _way_ you're going to get to that point hasn't crossed you mind at all." Ashelin said sarcastically.

"ASHELIN!" Molly exclaimed, going even redder. A few people laughed, Molly looked at them, "Well either way, I think that is more my business."

"So you _have_ thought about it." One of the guards said. Molly glared at her and then laughed.

Back with the guys, Damas had had a few more drinks, not really enough for him to get drunk but enough for him to enjoy the party with everyone else that was drunk out of their minds. Erick was hanging on him because he was so drunk that he couldn't hold himself up right, "Yo-you know, you and Molly really should have kids." Erick said hiccupping as he talked, "Lots and lots of kids."

"Oh yeah," Damas said, going along with what Erick was saying for a laugh, "and why do you say that?"

"Because having a-a kid was the best thing I've ever done."

Damas laughed, "Oh really, well I don't know about a lot of kids but one would be nice."

"Well, here's hoping that your kid nothin' like _y-ou_."

He finished the drink and was about to get another one, when Damas grabbed him, "I think you've had enough Erick."

"I-I'm fine." Erick said hiccupping.

"No you're not, your very, very drunk- you've had enough."

"No no I'm not drunk."

"Yes you are."

"One more is not going to hurt..." He reached toward another drink.

"Erick I said-" but the rest of his sentence was cut off by Erick punching him in the face. Damas hit the floor; he picked himself up and wiped the blood that was coming out of his nose off his face. A lot of people where staring at them.

He looked at Erick who was just staring at him unbelieving what he had just done, "Damas, I'm, I'm sorry. I-"

But Damas held up a hand to stop him, "It's okay, just no more drinking tonight, alright?"

"Yeah." Erick said.

Damas wiped more blood off his face, "Man, you got me good." He said, he started to laugh. "Do me a favor and never hit me again." The two of them walked out leaving everyone else wondering if the party was over.

The next day, Damas woke with one thought in his head; he was getting married that night to the woman he loved more than life itself. As he got out of bed he thought about what his life would have been like if he had never met Molly. He shuddered at the thought of him being forced to marry Nira came into his head, he was very glad he had ran into Molly twenty years ago. He smiled to himself as he got dressed; it was twenty years ago, almost to the day when he had literally bumped into Molly. He had been a stupid little boy doing something that didn't have any point to it and somehow doing that had led him to the girl he was marrying later that day, '_funny how fate works_' he thought. He looked at himself in the mirror to make sure his nose wasn't broken before he left his room.

Molly had woken up thinking almost the same thing her soon-to-be husband was thinking, she sat on her bed brushing her long blond-green hair, just thinking about the fact that after today she would be married to the only man she had ever fallen in love with, it was like something out of an old children's tale or something out of some of the plays she had been in. She was just the ordinary girl, just another face in the crowd and today she was marrying a king- she couldn't believe it. As she got up to leave the room she thought about what her life would be like if she had never met Damas, most likely she would have work in her father's newspaper office like he had wanted her to, but she most likely would not be as happy as she was now.

Unlike in other places, in Haven it was not bad luck for the bride and groom to see each other before the wedding. However that doesn't mean that Damas and Molly saw each other all day. In fact Damas did think he would see Molly until the wedding and he was right. Precursians had their own wedding traditions; one of them being that the father of the bride didn't give her away but that the bride and groom walk down the aisle together. There was no maid-of-honor or best man, there wasn't even a flower girl. No, the only ones that would walk down the aisle that day were Damas and Molly.

Damas and Erick stood outside of the main room of the temple where all the guests were waiting, the two of them waiting for Molly and Ashelin to arrive. Damas looked at Erick, grinning, "Your hang-over go away yet?"

"Yeah," Erick said, "You know, I can't remember a thing that happened last night. Did I punch a wall or something?"

Damas laughed, "No, why?"

"Because I can't shake this feeling that I hit something." Damas started to laughed harder, Erick glared at him, "What are you laughing at?" He asked.

"You punched me last night because I wouldn't let you get another beer."

"Oh… sorry."

"It's fine. You were drunk, you didn't know what you were doing. To tell you the truth I'm just glad you didn't break my nose." Then the doors opened and Ashelin walked in, she was in a beautiful floor length scarlet dress, the bottom half of the dress looked like it had glitter on it, it tied in the back of her neck, she had on light red gloves that went up to her elbows. Her shoulder length red hair was pulled back in a pointy tail. She walked up to her father and kissed his cheek, Damas looked at her, "Where's Molly?" He asked, eager to see his bride.

"Don't worry, she's coming." Then she looked at her father, "Come on dad, let's go get our seats."

"But I want to see Molly." He said as she began to drag him.

"You will see her. Now come on." She led him in the other room.

So Damas was left standing there for about ten seconds before the door opened again and this time it was Molly, in the most beautiful dress Damas had ever seen; it was strapless and gracefully fell to the floor and was made to show off her slender figure, it slightly dragged behind her as she walked, there were diamonds sown into it at the top and bottom of the dress, her hair was pulled back in a bun to hold her veil- which flowed behind her as she walked up to him, Damas took her in his arms and held her close. She looked at his tux; it was very simple but that was what she liked about it, she put her hand to the seal of Mar that hung around his neck, "I can't believe this day is finally here." She said.

"I know. After today nothing will keep me away from you." He pulled away from her and held out his arm, "Shall we?" He asked. Molly took his arm and the two of them walked into the main temple.

As the doors opened everyone looked and smiled as the bride and groom walked down the aisle together. The two of them got to the end of the aisle and the monk began to go through the vows to Damas, to honor, love and cherish for all time. The monk paused for his answer, he looked at Molly and with confidence said, "I do."

Then the monk began to repeat the vows to Molly and when he stopped she looked at Damas and with confidence said, "I do."

"Then by the powers vested in me," the monk said, "I now pronounce you husband and wife." He looked at Damas, "You may kiss the bride."

Damas took Molly in his arms and she put her arms around his neck and their lips met in an explosion of passion. Damas picked Molly off the ground and held her as he was kissing her, everyone cheered and applauded. After the two elves pulled apart and Damas had set Molly back on the ground, the two of them just stared at each other unable to believe that they really did just get married.

At the reception everyone was congratulating them and wishing them the best of luck. Erick came up to them and gave a small bow, "My King," He looked straight at Molly, "and my Queen. congratulations."

"Oh Erick." Molly said, laughing and embraced Erick like a brother.

She let Erick go and he looked at Damas, "You do what the next step is right? Time for a kid." He said, teasing them.

Damas shook his head, "Erick, you brought this up last night."

"I did? I don't remember."

Ashelin came up, "Come on dad, give them a little time before getting into that." She led him away.

Molly looked at Damas, "Did he get drunk last night?"

"Badly." Damas said, "He punched me when I told him he couldn't have anymore beer."

"He punched you?"

"Yep, gave me a bloody nose."

"Oh well, at least he didn't give you a black eye or something. I would have to hurt him then." Molly listened to the music and took Damas' hands, "Let's dance." She said as she begun to lead him onto the dance floor.

Damas laughed nurvously, "Molly, you know I can't dance."

She smiled at him, "Then let me lead." The two of them began to dance.

Later that night Damas lead Molly to their new room. With the door locked and neither of them planning to leave until the next day, the two them began to get know each other on a much higher level then ether of them had ever imagined.

Four weeks after the wedding, Molly and Damas were down in the kitchen eating breakfast. Molly managed about two bites before she ran for the nearest bathroom and vomited. Damas ran in after her. After she has finessed being sick he held her, "Are you alright?" He asked.

"I-I think so. I don't know what just happed but I'm okay."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah don't worry about me, I'm alright."

Damas wasn't convinced by her words, but he went along with her that is until the next morning when she got sick again, "Okay Molly, something is going on and I want to know what."

"Damas, I don't know."

"Well then, I would feel better if you went to the hospital just so we can find out what is going on."

"Okay," Molly said. "but let me brush my teeth first. All I can taste right now is vomit…"

"Okay."

After Molly had brushed her teeth Damas took her to the hospital and waited as a doctor ran tests on her to try to find out what was making her sick he was relieved when she came up to him, "Well?" he asked, concerned.

Molly smiled at him, "I'm pregnant."

Damas was speechless, "What?" He finally managed to say.

"I'm pregnant. Damas, we're going to have a baby."

Damas smiled and embraced her, "I don't believe it, we're really going to have a baby!" They shared a kiss and then Damas began to lead Molly back to the palace, both of her hands resting on her abdomen, blown away by the fact that there was a tiny baby growing inside of her at that moment.

**Jet: Wow, Damas and Molly got married and now Molly is pregnant, you know what that means. A certain hero is going to be showing up soon.**

**Penny: That's great Jet, but what about the fact that Erick bought the Dark Warrior Project and is now working with Errol?**

**Jet (not listening to Penny): What? Oh yeah, Erick and Errol. Hey Penny do you think Errol's gay, I never did figure that out... Oh well, I love the way this chapter turned out, mostly because I was up until three working on it and I love the way the wedding went over. I took some of the idea for the wedding from Light-Eco-Sage but she said it was okay. One more thing before I close this chapter, head's up Jak and Daxter fans, games 1, 2 and 3 are being rereleased in HD, on the PS3, it doesn't come out until Feb 7 but you can preorder it at **_**Game Stop**_** for $40 total.**

**Penny: $40 for three games, that's not bad.**

**Jet: I've already preordered. So tell me what you think and I'll see all of you when the next chapter is up. **


	9. Family

Chapter 9: Family

**Jet: So Chapter 8 seemed to be a fan ****favorite**** and I see why; Damas and Molly got married and Molly found out she is going to have a baby. **

**Penny: The way you tell it you'd think the chapter was all mushy. What about the fact that Erick bought the Dark Warrior Project, Damas doesn't know about it and Errol black-mailed Erick to let him tag along with him?**

**Jet: Yeah that happened too. But let's face it, the chapter was mostly mushy, even Ashelin and Torn had a moment together and she told him that her father is the man that Torn has hated for years and he still likes her.**

**Penny: Isn't Ashelin like 16 or 17 at this point?**

**Jet: Yeah.**

**Penny: Molly's pregnant with baby Jak now. The ages don't match with the games…**

**Jet: Yeah, Ashelin never seemed to be as old as Naughty Dog said she was- so I changed that a little. But that's really all I changed and I don't think anyone cares so now that's out of the way I have one more thing to say before the chapter starts, no time has passed since the end of the last chapter. Okay let's get on with the story. **

When Damas and Molly were back at the palace they went to find Erick and Ashelin to tell them the good news. They found Ashelin walking down a hallway; she looked at them and walked up to them, "Hey, I've been looking for you two. Where have you been?" She asked.

Damas smiled, "I had to take Molly to the hospital."

"What!" Ashelin asked, she looked at Molly, "Is everything alright?"

Molly laughed a little, "Everything's fine. More than fine actually," She put her hands on her abdomen, "I'm pregnant."

Ashelin smiled, "You're pregnant?" She looked at Damas, "You two are going to have a baby?" She squealed.

Damas nodded and embraced Molly. She smiled, "So Ashelin, why where you looking for us?"

"Oh right; there's a council meeting today and everyone is waiting."

Damas pulled away from Molly, "I forgot there was a meeting today but I'm sure everyone will understand. Come on, Molly." Molly looked at him confused, Damas laughed, "You're the Queen now- you can come to the meetings with me."

"Oh okay." She said, following him but then she turned to Ashelin, "Not a word to your father about me, okay?_ I_ want to tell him." Ashelin made a zipping motion over her mouth and Damas and Molly went to the meeting.

The council was a little upset that Damas had kept them waiting but their feelings quickly changed when he told them why he was late. Everyone gave him and Molly their congratulations and the meeting progressed. They were there to talk about the missing tubs of eco and how the city was being affected because of it. Damas assured them that he had Erick looking into it and if and when he found anything out he would tell them.

With Damas thinking that he was looking for the missing tubs of eco that he had let the Metal-heads take, Erick was free to work on the Dark Warrior Project with Errol's help. The old man that had sold Erick the project helped to put it together in the fortress, with the connections Erick had he was able to get his hands on any thing that was needed for the project. It had been Errol's idea to use the project on the people in the prison, after all- no one cared about them.

Erick went back to the palace later that night. He found Damas and Molly in one of the reading rooms, just sitting and talking. They heard him come in and they looked at him, "Hey Erick." Molly said, "Guess what."

"What." He asked sitting in the chair next to them.

"Damas and I are going to have a baby." She said.

Erick's eye opened wide with surprise, "What! Really? You two are going to have a baby!" Damas and Molly nodded, "Wow, I should have know you two wouldn't have wasted any time, assuming you did wait until after you were married."

"We where suppose to wait until after we were married?" Damas asked, sarcastically.

However it seemed Erick had missed that. He looked at them shocked, "You two did it before you got married?"

Molly glared at him, "Of course we didn't, Erick!" She shouted. Damas and Erick were a little taken back by her sudden outburst, Molly looked at both of them, "I'm sorry, I don't know what just came over me."

Erick rolled his eye, "Great, you're _already_ having mood swings. You don't have to say you're sorry, but you can blame you smart-ass of a husband."

Damas glared at him, "I'm not a smart-ass."

"Well you're definitely an ass." Erick said.

"Guys," Molly said, they looked at her, "I'm not going to want to hear either of you talking like that after I have the baby, okay?"

Damas put an arm around her, "Molly that day is a _long_ way off."

"I know, I just wanted to make that clear now."

"Don't worry," Erick said, "We're not going to talk like that in front of the baby but like Damas said: the baby isn't going to come for a long time, we can still use all the foul language we want."

"I really would rather you two didn't."

"Okay Molly," Damas said, "We won't."

"Thanks." She kissed him. "I think I'm going to bed, it's been a long day."

She stood up as did Damas, "It has been a long day. We should go to _bed_." From his implication she could see that sleeping wasn't on his mind.

She smiled, "Damas not tonight, I'm tired, maybe tomorrow."

"Alright, but it is late, let's go get some sleep."

Molly looked at Erick, "Good night Erick." Damas began to lead her out of the room when Molly looked back at Erick, "By the way, Ashelin already knows."

"You told her before you told me?" He asked.

"We ran into her first." Damas said. "By the way, have you found out anything about the missing eco?"

"No, who ever took it knew exactly what they were doing. I don't think there is any way to find it." He said. He didn't like lying to his best friend but he didn't have a choice. Molly and Damas left for bed and Erick was left alone.

Five weeks had passed since Molly and Damas had found out they were going to have a baby. Molly was just barley starting to show that she was pregnant, however Damas was the only one who knew that; seeing as Molly now wore long dresses that were more lose around her middle. It was now well known in the city that the queen was pregnant and this seemed to bring happiness to the people.

Damas and Molly were in their room sitting by the window. Damas held Molly close and she held his hands to her stomach so he could feel the small bulge that was their growing baby. "What do you think the baby's going to be?" Molly asked, "A boy or a girl?"

"Boy." Damas said without ever thinking about it.

"You sound so sure, why?"

"Because all of Mar's descendants have been boys, that's how the name has stuck around for the last five hundred years."

"So you really think there is no way our baby could be a girl?"

"Not really. But I'm more just going with what I know, what do you think?"

"I haven't really thought about it, a boy would be nice. But we're just going to have to wait to find out."

"Can't you just go see a doctor and have them tell you?"

Molly shook her head, "I think it's still too early to tell."

Molly looked out the window and out of nowhere her eyes filled with tears. "Molly, what's wrong?" Damas asked as he saw tears falling down her face.

Molly quickly wiped them away, "Nothing, it's nothing."

"Molly." He cocked a brow at her.

"It's just my mood swings again, that's all."

"Well what were you thinking about?"

Molly was quiet for a moment and then she said, "My mother, she wasn't there… I didn't have her to show me how to be a mother. What if I can't do it? What if I can't be a mother?"

Damas held her close, "Molly, I know you well enough to tell you that you'll be a great mother." He kissed her, "You don't have anything to worry about."

Months go by and now there was no way for Molly to hide the fact that she was pregnant. Anyone who looked at her could easily tell she was pregnant. Damas stayed by her side as much as he could but there was the fact the city's well being was still his responsibility. Molly didn't like the council meetings- so when her husband was in the meetings she was in the garden. It was starting get colder every day, so the garden wasn't as nice as it usually was, seeing as the plants had been moved into the palace for the winter. Molly pulled her jacket tighter around herself as a cool breeze blow passes her. She looked down at the city streets below thinking about what her baby could be like, she had wrapped her mind around the baby being a boy but she didn't have a clue about how the baby could look. Will he look more his father or herself- and his personality, what would that be like?

Molly was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she didn't notice when Damas came up behind her. She didn't know he was there until he wrapped his arms around her. She jumped a little but she quickly relaxed when she saw it was Damas. "What are you doing out here, Molly?" He asked.

"Nothing." She answered.

"You should be inside, it's cold out here."

She allowed him to lead her back inside. When they were back inside they walked around with no real distance in mind. As they walked Molly thought about the baby, she had been thinking about what they could name him, she wanted her baby's name to mean something, to be important. She looked up at her husband, "Damas," He looked at her, "Did Mar have a first name or did everyone just call him by his last name?"

"I don't know, if he had a first name it's been lost to time. Why?"

"Well I've been thinking about what we could name our baby. I want him to have a name that's important. I thought about your father's name but… I don't know it just didn't seem like the right name to me. Then I thought about Mar and… well…"

"So you want to name our son Mar?" He asked making sure he understood.

"Your right, it's stupid."

"No, I like it." He put a hand on Molly's stomach, "Mar."

Then both Molly and Damas felt something new, the baby had moved inside Molly, he had kick for the very first time. Molly stared at her stomach and then she looked at her husband, "Did you feel that?" She asked. Damas couldn't speak he just nodded, Molly smiled, "He kicked!" Her hands moved to rest on her stomach, "He kicked!" She said again, with a bit of a laugh.

Damas was just as blown away as Molly was, "I… I guess he likes his name." The two elves looked at each other and then embraced, Damas began to kiss her.

At the fortress Erick and Errol had finished the project, the old man had mysteriously disappeared- but it didn't matter, the project was done and Errol was dying to use it. But Erick didn't think it would be best to start making Dark eco powered troops without telling Damas. He had been keeping secrets from him for too long.

He went home and found Damas in the library reading something he randomly picked out. Erick went up to him; Damas looked up from his book and looked at him, "Hey Erick."

"Hey," Erick looked around, "Where's Molly?"

"Sleeping."

"Oh, remind me, how much longer is she? I know she's nowhere near close but still."

"About five or four months, I think. Why?"

"No reason."

Erick sat down in one of the chairs. Damas could tell that he had something he wanted to say, "Erick, is something on your mind?"

"Kinda… I've just been thinking about the war."

"Well that's never good."

"No kidding. I've been thinking this war has been going on for too long… we can end it."

Damas looked confused and a little taken back, "Erick, we tried to end it ten years ago. Because I didn't think it through you almost got killed. I'll never be able to let that go."

"Hey, I did live so no harm done."

Damas half smirked, "You're half blind."

"So what? We're older and stronger now, we could end the war."

"Do you have a plan?" Damas asked, figuring he could just go along with it just for a laugh.

"Yes."

Now Damas was interested, he didn't think Erick actually had a plan. Erick handed Damas the diagram the old man had given him. Damas looked at it in horror; from the notes on the sides of the paper Damas saw that the Dark Warrior project was a torture device. He looked at Erick, "Are you out of your mind?" Damas asked.

"No no listen, this will work. We can use the Dark Warriors and end the war once and for all."

"No Erick, this is never going to work. Something like this will most likely kill whoever you try to use it on." Damas crumpled up the paper and threw it away.

Erick looked at his friend, "Damas think about it, we can end this war forever. Do you really want your son to grow up in a world of war?"

"No. I wish he could have a world without Metal-heads, some place where he can be safe and happy. But torturing people is not going to get us there."

"Well, then do _you_ have any plans to end this war?" Erick asked. Damas shook his head, Erick glared at him, "So you don't have any ideas to end the war and I come to you with something and you won't stand by me with it?"

Now Damas was glaring at him, "I don't want to hurt people the way you're planning to."

"NO? But you're alright with them DYING!" Erick asked, standing up.

Damas was shocked by what Erick had said, "You think I _like_ knowing that people are dying every day because of this war? I don't, I hate it!" He shouted.

"Then why can't you see that this is the only way to end it?"

"Because there has to be another way." Damas said, he took a deep breath, "I'm done with this, I never want to hear another word about this."

Neither of them said anything after that. Erick left, it didn't matter that he didn't have Damas' support- he didn't need it. Plus Erick felt that Damas would see that he was right; this was the only way to stop the Metal-heads.

Damas went up to his room later; he opened the door and was surprised to find Molly awake. He looked at her, she was sitting in bed with one hand resting on her ever expanding stomach and in her other hand she had a children's book. She was reading it out loud- so in a sense she was reading it to the baby. She looked up and smiled as Damas walked in, he sat down next to her and she snuggled closer to him, "I thought you were a sleep." He said.

"I couldn't sleep."

"Something on your mind?"

"Not really. I just couldn't sleep."

The two of them just sat there, Damas didn't think he should tell Molly about the Dark Warrior Project mostly because he didn't think it was an issue now. So they just sat there and eventually they did fall to sleep.

The next day, Erick told Errol what Damas had said, but Errol didn't seem to care he told Erick that he had talked to Onin again and she had told him that the project would lead to the end of the war but the one who would save them was lost in time or 'something like that.'

"Lost in time?" Erick asked, thinking that was one was of the stupidest things he had heard in a long time.

"She said she will tell me when he'll appear and where I can find him." Errol said.

Erick shook his head, "Errol, this isn't going to work, you're putting your faith in a blind old hag."

"So what? With all due respect Sir, you put your trust in an old man when you bought this project." Erick looked at Errol, as much as he hated to admit it; the younger elf had a point. Errol smirked, "Here's something to think about; the king is so obsessed with his wife and baby right now that you have become the city's only real defense against the Metal-heads… almost like you're the king now."

Erick looked at Errol, "I'm nothing like a King." He said. But Errol did had a point, when Damas had found out that Molly was going to have a baby that became all he cared about and Damas knew that Erick had taken some of the responsibility that should have been the king's. So- more as a joke- Damas started to say that Erick should have a title and for some reason Damas had thought that Baron worked. When Erick had asked him why, he said it was because that was the stupidest sounding thing he could think of. But Erick had thought about this and in reality he thought that the title 'Baron Praxis' had a nice ring to it, in fact many of the guards had started called him 'the Baron.' Not that Damas knew about that, seeing that the well being of Molly and the baby had become his top priority. Erick could understand why- but still, he had really began to take the responsibility of the war into his own hands so it was no wonder why Damas had said no, his thoughts were more surrounding his wife and child- not the war. Erick was sure that after Molly had the baby that Damas would see things more clearly but for now Erick would keep quiet about this.

Four months go by, winter turned into spring, and Molly was nearing the end of her pregnancy. Damas had convinced Molly that it was for the best if she spent as much time as she could in bed, she agreed. Damas and Erick had acted liked they had never discussed the Dark Warrior Project and Damas actually forgot about it.

One day, Damas was sitting with Molly in their room, Molly found her eyes wandering to the new crib that was now sitting in the room, she looked up at her husband and smiled, "I can't wait until I have the baby." She said, rubbing her head against his neck.

"I know what you mean. It won't be long now." He said rubbing her stomach.

"He could come any day." She said as her hands met his, they both felt the baby give a powerful kick that actually caused Molly a very small amount of pain. She smiled at her husband's worried look, "He's strong, just like his father." He smiled and kissed her. "Damas, when I start to have the baby, you will be there, right?" She asked.

Damas looked at her, shocked that she had to ask, "Molly, of course I'll be there."

"The whole time? You won't leave even if they try to make you?"

"I'm not going to leave you, no matter what. I promise."

Then a knock came from the door and Erick walked in. Errol had talked to Onin again and she had told him that the one that he and Erick had been waiting for would be coming sometime that day so Errol and three other guards went to the place she had told them to be and were waiting for him. So Erick figured that until Errol had the man, there wasn't any reason why he couldn't be with his friends, he stood next to Molly and she smiled at him, "Hey Molly, how are you doing?" He asked.

"I'm fine but," She looked at her husband, "I'm tired of staying in bed." She got up and went to the window and looked out of it. Damas and Erick stood next to her; the three friends looked over the city. Then two things happened at the same time, out of nowhere something that looked like a purple comet flew across the sky, Damas and Erick watched as it fell somewhere in the city. Molly had not seen the comet because what was going on inside of her body at the exact same time had grabbed her full attention and- for a moment- her voice.

Damas and Erick however hadn't even noticed what was going on with Molly; Damas looked at Erick, "What do you think that was?" He asked, referring to the comet.

"I don't know." Erick said, but that wasn't true- he _did_ have some idea but he wasn't going to tell Damas.

Damas looked at Molly who was holding her stomach with both her hands a mix look of shock, fear and also some happiness was on her face, "Molly?" Damas said, worry filling his voice, "What is it?" He asked but he had a feeling he already knew.

She looked at him, "Damas, I think- I think it's time."

At the same time somewhere in the Industrial Section, Errol and three other guards walked up to where the comet had landed, however they didn't find a rock instead they found a young looking teenager (He couldn't be more than a year younger then Errol) with flame-like yellow-green hair and a large orange rat next to him. The rat threw what looked like a pipe, "Okay I swear, that's the last time I ever, EVER! Touch any stupid Precursor crap!" The rat said.

The boy saw Errol and his men come closer, "Step away from the animal." One of the guards said as he and his companions pointed their guns at the boy.

The rat gave a scream and ran for it, "Forget the rat," Errol said, "The Baron wants him." Errol could see the confusion on the boys face, "We've been waiting for you." Errol said as one of the guards hit the boy with end of his gun; it brought Errol a small amount of joy to see the boy fall.

"Don't worry Jak; I'll save you before you know it." The rat called as he ran away. Errol looked at the boy that was now laying unconscious on the ground, '_So his name is Jak._' Errol thought. He laughed to himself; there was no way in hell a rat was going to save him. They took him to the fortress and waited for him to regain consciousness.

Much later, Molly laid in bed, Damas next to her, holding her hand. Molly hadn't wanted to go the hospital because she felt that they wouldn't get any privacy, so her and Damas were in their room waiting for the doctor to come.

She looked up at him, "Damas, I'm scared. How do people live though this?" She asked as tears began to fall down her face.

Damas wiped them away, "You're okay, I'm right here you don't have to be scared." She let out a cry of pain as another contraction ripped through her body. She squeezed Damas' hand, not that he minded.

Then the door opened and Ashelin stuck her head in, Damas looked at her, "The doctor's here." She said. The doctor walked in and Ashelin closed the door. There was nothing to do now but wait. She walked to another part of the palace and found her father; she sat next to him and looked up at him with a worried look on her face.

Erick smiled at her, "Molly is going to be fine." He said.

"I know."

Erick just smiled and then his phone went off in his pocket, he answers it. It was Errol which meant he had to go the fortress '_why now?_' he thought. He looked at Ashelin, "I'm needed at the fortress now. Something important has come up."

"They can't handle whatever it is themselves?" Ashelin asked.

"I'm afraid not. Tell Damas I'm sorry, and that I'll take care of whatever is going on."

"He's not going to like this."

"I know." And with that Erick left Ashelin sitting there alone.

At the fortress Errol led Erick to the cell that he had put Jak in. Erick walked up to the boy and looked down at him. Erick looked back at Errol, "This is who we've been waiting for? He's just a kid."

"So am I." Errol said.

Erick looked back at the boy, "What is your name?" He asked, the boy just looked up at him. Erick was a little taken back with the boy's eyes. Erick got a good look at the boy, he looked just like… "What is your name?" He asked, more firmly.

"His name is Jak." Errol said. "Should we start him on the project now?" He asked.

Erick looked back at Jak, "No, we'll start him on it tomorrow." He said, turning his back to Jak and walking out of the cell. He needed to think, how could that boy look so much like Molly? There was no way she had a younger brother or any other living relatives besides her father and he didn't look anything like her, so why did this boy look so much like her? Erick began to walk through the city trying to figure this out.

About two hours later, Molly was laying in bed catching her breath as a baby's cry filled the room, Damas brushed her bangs out of her face and kissed her forehead. She was so tired but happy, she could hear her baby crying. She looked at her husband with half opened eyes, "Damas…" She whispered. Damas smiled, helped her sit up and embraced her.

The doctor came over to them with their baby –who was still crying- wrapped in a blue blanket, "Congratulations," He said as he handed the crying baby to Molly, "It's a healthy baby boy." As soon as the infant was in his mother's arms he had stopped crying. After he had handed the baby to Molly the doctor walked out of the room.

Molly was so weak that Damas had to help her hold their baby, "Hi baby." Molly said, unable to keep herself from crying. "Hi Mar."

Damas looked at his son as tears filled his eyes as well. He couldn't believe it, he was a father. He kissed Molly again and looked back at his son; Mar, the new Prince of Haven city.

Mar opened his eyes and looked up at his parents for the first time. Damas smiled, his son had the same blue eyes that Molly had, he looked at her, "He has your eyes."

Molly nodded, and pulled back the part of the blanket that was covering the top of Mar's head and found a small patch of green hair. Molly laughed weakly, "He has my hair too."

Damas looked at Mar's tiny ears and laughed, "He even has your ears. He looks just like you."

"Well I already know that he acts just like you." Molly said, "He's stubborn as can be already."

Then the door opened again and Ashelin popped her head in, "Can I see the baby?" She asked.

Damas and Molly nodded and Ashelin came in and looked down at the tiny baby. Mar looked up at her with eyes filled with wonder. Then he looked back at his mother and smiled. Damas looked at Ashelin, "Where's your father?" He asked.

Ashelin paused a moment. "Something happened at the fortress, he said don't worry about it that he would take care of whatever is going on."

"What happened?" Damas asked.

"Damas." Molly said, getting his attention. Mar was reaching for him. Damas looked at Molly, she smiled and let him take their baby out of her arms. Damas looked down at his son and smiled, whatever was going on, it could wait until tomorrow. Mar began to fall asleep in his father's arms. Molly laid down and she too began to fall asleep looking at her husband and son.

The next day Damas woke to the sound of his son's cries. He looked at Molly who had also been woken by the baby's cries. Knowing that she needed to rest, Damas got up and picked his son up out of the crib, he gently rocked the infant in his arms to try and calm him, it worked. Mar calmed down and fell back to sleep. Damas walked over to Molly, she reached out a hand and ran her fingers through Mar's hair. "You should go back to sleep." Damas said, seeing the drowsiness in his wife's eyes. Molly smiled at him and laid back down and fell back to sleep.

Damas took Mar out of the room and walked down the hall. He still couldn't believe it, he had a son. He looked at the sleeping infant in his arms. He thought about the relationship he had with his parents, in all reality he had a good relationship with them but he could remember that really was the only time he got to spend with them was at dinner because they had so much they had to do. Damas smiled at his son, he was going to make sure that he could spend as much time as he wanted with his family.

As Damas walked he found Erick looking out the window, he walked up to him. Erick turned and looked at him, "Erick, what happened to you last night?" Damas asked.

"Something came up at the fortress. I feel terrible about leaving, but I didn't have much of a choice." Erick looked at Mar who was still asleep. He smiled. "Molly sleeping?" He said to change the subject.

"Yeah, she needs it."

Mar woke up and looked up at his father. Erick was a little taken back by the baby's eyes, "He has Molly's eyes."

Damas smiled as he let Mar grab his finger, "Yeah, he looks a lot like her." Erick thought back to Jak. It was a coincidence, it had to be. How else could Jak look so much like Molly? But he pushed that thought out of his head not bothering to think about it again.

**Jet: Baby Jak is in the story! **

**Penny: So… the day that Jak and Daxter came to Haven city, was Jak's birthday?**

**Jet: Yep, keep in mind they were time traveling so the day they left Sandover wasn't Jak's birthday. That's all I have to say for this chapter so tell me what you think and when do I ever know when the next chapter will be up? Just keep an eye out for it.**


	10. Parenthood

Chapter 10: Parenthood

**Jet: Okay Okay Okay, so in the last chapter baby Jak- I mean Mar- came into the story! **

**Penny: Yeah… as cute as that is what about the fact that the Dark Warrior Project is now useable? Not only that but the moment that Molly started to have the baby, fifteen year old Jak was captured and put in jail? Oh, but months before that happened Erick talked to Damas about the Dark Warrior Project?**

**Jet: Yeah that happened too but, when Damas found out about the Project he told Erick that he didn't like it.**

**Penny: But that didn't stop Erick, so here is something for the reader to think about when Erick isn't anywhere to be seen he is most likely torturing Jak in the fortress.**

**Jet: Kill joy.**

**Jak: Jet, can I talk to you?**

**Jet: Yes **

**Jak: Please tell me you're not going to go nuts with the cute stuff.**

**Jet: I could but then I would be lying.**

**Jak: Oh no.**

**Jet: Oh yes, time to read.**

It was about two in the morning, Molly stood next to the window in her room with her three week old son finally asleep in her arms. She looked at him and planted a kiss on his forehead. She heard the door open and saw Damas walked in, he looked so tired. The council had been having long meetings and seeing as Mar didn't get the concept of a good night's sleep yet this left Damas with very little sleep. But he didn't really care, the sight of his wife and son made him happy. He walked over to them and looked down at the sleeping infant in Molly's arms, "How long has he been asleep?"

Molly smiled, "He just fell asleep." She kissed her husband. "You should get some sleep as well."

"So should you." He said, seeing the drowsiness in his wife's eyes. Molly smiled and went to place Mar in his crib as Damas changed into clothes more suited for sleeping in. They both got into bed, Molly smiled at her husband as he brushed a lose strand of hair out of her face, "You know," he said, "I've been thinking, we should go out some time, just you and me."

Molly shook her head, "Damas, how can we go out?"

"We can get Erick or Ashelin to watch Mar and I can tell the council to go scre-" he stopped at the warning look his wife was giving him. "I can tell them to take the night off."

Molly smiled, "As nice as that sounds, I don't think I'm ready to leave Mar for the night." Damas gave Molly a look that always got her to do exactly what he wanted. He gave her the _puppy-dog-pout. _Molly closed her eyes, "Oh no. Not this time." It didn't help when he started to whimper. She looked at him, "Alright alright," She said, giving in, "we'll go out tomorrow." Damas smiled and kissed her and then they both fell asleep.

Molly and Damas woke about four hours later to the sound of Mar crying. Damas got up and picked his son up. Most mornings all Mar wanted was to be held by one of his parents and this morning was no exception. Once Damas had him, Mar calmed down and smiled up at his father. Molly came over and smiled down at her son. Mar looked at her and started to reach for her, Damas handed him over and the baby began to fuss which meant he was hungry.

Not too much later, Damas and Molly -who had Mar in her arms- were walking down one of the hall ways and came across Erick, they walked up to him. "Hey Erick." Molly said.

"Hi." Erick said looking at her, then Mar's baby sounds got Erick's attention, "Hey kid." Erick said, smiling at the baby. He began to make goofy faces and Mar began to laugh. Erick looked at Damas and Molly, "He is too cute. I wish I could play with him all day."

"Well," Damas said, "Molly and I have been talking about having a night out. Maybe you could watch him for the night."

"With the counsel having all those meetings, how are you going to manage that?"

Damas shook his head, "I'm not king for nothing you know. Besides, the meetings are more Count Veger trying to convince everyone that '_The catacombs are the key to our survival_.'" Damas said, in a very bad impression of the ugly old Count. Mar laughed at the funny way his father sounded. Damas looked down at him, "If we're lucky that old man will be gone long before you ever have to deal with the counsel." He tickled his son under his chin.

Molly looked back at Erick, "So can you watch Mar tonight?"

Erick looked at the baby and then smiled, "Sure I can watch him. I mean you two used to watch Ashelin all the time for me, so I see no reason why I can't keep an eye on him." Mar began to reach for his father and Damas took him and began to lead Molly to the garden, and Erick left to meet up with Errol at the fortress.

The garden was back to its normal beauty, Damas and Molly sat down with their backs against the barrier. Molly began to tickle her son and Damas just sat there smiling, just happy to be with his family. Mar grabbed his mother's finger and held it as tight as he could, Molly smiled and Damas handed Mar over to her. Molly rubbed her nose against her baby's, "My sweet baby boy." Mar just smiled. Molly cradled him in her arms and then he sneeze a very small sneeze; Molly couldn't help but give a small laugh as she rested her head against Damas', "I'm still not sure I can handle a night away from him."

Damas smiled, "Molly, we can't teach him that we'll always be there."

"But he's only three weeks old."

"I know but it's better if we do this now. It will be a lot harder for everyone if we wait until he's older."

Molly sighed, "You're right," she gave another small chuckle, "and I hate that."

At the fortress, Erick and Errol looked down at Jak, who was laying unconscious on the chair he was strapped to. Erick didn't understand why after three weeks nothing had changed about the boy. Errol also just didn't understand, he looked at Erick, "Should we try again?" He asked.

"No, not right now. We don't want to risk killing him. Just put him back in his cell for now." Erick began to walk away leaving Errol to do as he said.

He walked into the brake room and found his daughter talking with one of the other guards, a boy. Apparently Ashelin found something the boy said to be funny. Erick walked up to them, Ashelin saw him coming, "Hi dad." She said.

"Hi." Erick said. He looked at the boy Ashelin had been talking to; Erick didn't understand why the boy was glaring at him. He also didn't understand why he felt like the boy looked familiar.

Ashelin looked at her friend, "Come on Torn, we can go somewhere else."

Torn looked at her, "No." He looked back at Erick, "You don't remember me, do you?" He asked, crossing his arms.

Erick looked at him, "Have we met?"

"Once."

Ashelin looked at Torn, "You don't have to talk about this." She said, but Torn wasn't listening.

"The day the Metal-heads broke through the old wall you pulled everyone back and left my brother and I as orphans."

Erick looked at the boy, he now remembered, "You're that little boy I saved."

"Saved?" Torn almost shouted as he stood up, "You turned my life into a living hell."

"Torn!" Ashelin shouted but he ignored her.

"If you hadn't made everyone pull back maybe my parents would still be here!"

Erick glared down at the younger elf, "You where just a kid when all that happened, so I wouldn't expect you to understand."

"Understand what?" Torn asked, his anger increasing, "That you couldn't do your job?" He walked away without another word.

Ashelin looked at her father and then followed Torn out of the room. She walked a little way behind him but then he stopped and looked at her. She looked into his diamond blue eyes, "Are you alright?" she asked.

"No I'm not." He looked away from her, "Ashelin I want to be with you but I don't think I can."

"What do you mean?" she asked, walking in front of him so he was looking at her again.

"I mean how can we have a relationship if I can't stand your father?"

"We'll figure it out." She embraced him, "We have to, because I…" She looked up at him, "Because I love you."

Torn wrapped his arms around her, "I love you too. More than anything."

Ashelin rested her head on his chest; he had said just what she had wanted to hear. Molly had been right, it didn't matter what her father had or hadn't done that would never change the way Torn felt about her. Torn put a hand under her chin and made her look up at him, they locked eyes for a moment before Torn pressed his lips against her's, Ashelin gladly began to kiss him back. The two of them were so wrapped into each other that they didn't notice that Erick was just a little ways away from them watching them, hoping that they would have a better relationship then the one he had with Ashelin's mother.

Later that night, Molly and Damas were getting ready to leave for the night. They both didn't think they could handle being away from their baby for too long; so they were just going to a movie and then just go walking for a bit. Molly had just put Mar into his footy PJs and was now cradling him in her arms. Damas walked up to them and ruffled the small patch of green hair on top of Mar's head, "You're going to be a good boy for Uncle Erick, right?" He asked. Mar just laughed not understanding what his father was saying.

Molly smiled, "Of course he'll be a good boy." She kissed her baby.

"We should get going." He said, leading her out of the room.

They found Erick in the hall way, Molly reluctantly handed Mar to him, "He shouldn't be too much trouble." She said. Mar looked up at Erick, curious.

"Molly, don't worry, he'll be fine. You two go and enjoy the night."

"You sure you don't mind watching him?" Damas asked.

Erick looked at him, "I used to watch you so I think I can handle a baby."

Damas smiled and looked at Molly, "Then we should go." He began to lead her away, "Whatever you do, don't look back." He whispered in her ear.

Mar watched his parents walk away, he wanted them to come back, he wanted to go with them. He began to whimper and then he began to cry. Molly and Damas heard him cry and both of them fought back the feeling to looking back. Molly looked at Damas, "Maybe we shouldn't do this." She said.

"Molly, it's for the best. He'll be alright, it's not like we're never coming back."

Both of them looked at Mar and for a moment he stopped crying and reached for them. Molly walked back to her baby and whipped the tears from his face, "It's okay," she said, "were going to come back later." She kissed his forehead. She walked back to Damas and he began to lead her away.

As soon as they left Mar began to cry again. Erick held him and tried to calm him down but it didn't work. All Mar wanted was his parents. Ashelin heard Mar's crying and came to help, she took Mar out of her father's arms, "It's okay, don't cry. They'll come back, it's okay." Mar calmed down a little bit and looked up at Ashelin; she smiled at him and let him cling to her shoulder. This was really cute until Mar grabbed a hand full of her hair and pulled, "OW!" Mar began to laugh as Ashelin pulled him away and playfully glared at him, "That wasn't very nice." She said, the baby just kept laughing. Ashelin rubbed her nose against his, "You're lucky you're so cute."

Latter, Damas and Molly were walking out of the theater, ignoring the fact that people keep staring at them. It was unusual for the king and queen to go outside the palace for something as normal as a night out, so a lot of people were confused but Molly and Damas didn't care. Damas had an arm around Molly as they walked; Molly looked up at her husband and laughed a little. Damas looked at her, "What's so funny?" He asked.

"Nothing really, I was just thinking."

"About?"

She smiled, "The first time I saw you fight. Do you remember? We went to the movies that day and then we walked around the city."

Damas smiled, "I remember, that was such a long time ago, but I remember."

Molly put her arms around him, "Thank you for protecting me that day."

Damas kissed the top of her head, "I'll always protect you and our son. I'll never let anything happen too either of you."

They walked to the bazaar and looked at all the little shops that were there. Then almost out of nowhere music started playing, they looked around and found a group of three young men playing instruments. One of them played a guitar, another playing the drums and the other played a keyboard. All three of them looked like they didn't have much but they played beautifully. Molly looked at Damas and smiled. Damas' ears slightly drooped knowing that she wanted to dance with him; she took his hands and led him closer to the small band and started to dance with him. Damas held her close as they danced; Molly rested her head on his chest, happy to be with the man she loved.

Back at the palace, Mar was crying again. Ashelin had left because she had a date with Torn, so Erick was left to try and calm the screaming child. It had been a long time since the last time he had to take care of a baby so he was a little out of practice. He tried to get Mar to laugh by making funny faces but that didn't work, he tried to feed him but that didn't work either. Erick gave him a rattle and that seem to take the baby's attention, Mar shook it and laughed, liking the sound it made. Erick smiled, glad that he had stopped crying. He held Mar and looked at him, "You're going to be a trouble maker when you're older, aren't you?" Mar hit Erick on the head with his rattle. The sound of plastic hitting metal made Mar laugh even more, "Hey," Erick said, "that's not nice." Mar yawned and Erick smiled, cradling the baby in his arms as he fell to sleep, "You _are_ going to be a trouble maker." He said to the infant, "just like your father."

Molly and Damas came home a little later and found Erick sitting in one of the reading rooms, still holding the sleeping baby. Molly walked over to him and took her baby, she kissed his forehead. Damas walked up next to her and looked at his friend, "Thank you Erick."

"Any time."

Molly smiled at him, "I hope he wasn't too much trouble."

"Not at all."

Molly and Damas took their baby to their room and placed him in his crib. They looked at him as he slept on. Damas wrapped his arms around Molly, "See," he whispered in her ear, "he's fine." Molly smiled and nodded and she and Damas went to bed.

A few months go by, Damas had made the council stop their late night meetings, mostly because Mar still cried late in the night and he was having a hard time finding time to sleep. Mar was a complete hand full; it was hard to get him to take a nap. If Molly put him in his crib he would cry until she picked him up again; the only way he would go to sleep was if she or Damas was holding him. For Molly, the only good thing that came out of this was with Mar sleeping in her arms was she could read a book and Damas wouldn't sneak up on her and scare her. But she couldn't pretend this wasn't a problem, even if there was a small part of her that liked this. Both Molly and Damas had tried to just leave him in his crib but they couldn't stand to hear him so upset and always caved into picking him up. One day, Damas was trying to help Molly to get Mar to take his nap in his crib but Mar just wouldn't have it. He clung to his mother's shirt, terrified she was going to let him go, "It's okay." She said trying to sooth the baby, she looked at her husband, "What are we going to do?"

Damas looked at his son, "Just put him in the crib."

"But he doesn't like that."

"I know, but he has to learn that we're not going to be there every time he cries. I don't like this either, but it's something we have to do." Molly looked at her son and pulled him away from her. She put him in the crib and he began to cry. Damas and Molly began to walk away, "I know this is hard but he can't expect us to be there all the time."

Mar pulled himself up and cried as his parents walked away, he climbed out of the crib and fell to the ground. Damas and Molly turned around scared that Mar had hurt himself but what they saw shocked them even more then the fact that their three month old son had climbed out of his crib. He was crawling for the first time. Molly bent down as he came to her, she picked him up and he clung to her. She looked at Damas, "Well _**now**_ what are we going to do?" She asked.

Damas ran his hand threw Mar's hair, "I don't know." Damas looked at his son, a little impressed that he could get out of his crib if he wanted to and that he could crawl. Mar fell asleep in Molly's arms and she put him back in his crib and watched him sleep.

Later that night, Damas had asked if Erick would watch Mar for the night. Erick didn't mind, after all it was a very special day and Damas wanted to spend it with his wife. They didn't leave the palace, they ate dinner alone and then they went to the garden, they walked around it just taking in its beauty. Molly looked down at the city far below, tiny dots of light were just about all she could see. She looked at her husband and embraced him, neither them could believe what today was. How could time move so fast? Damas held her as tight as he could and kissed the top of her head. Then he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box. Molly smiled and opened it, inside was a golden heart shaped locket. She opened it and inside was a picture of the two of them: Molly was sixteen and Damas was eighteen. She looked at him with a loving smile; Damas helped her put it on and whispered in her ear, "Happy anniversary." Molly wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him and he gladly kissed her back.

Time goes by; Mar was almost a year old, he had started to figure out that he didn't need to be with his parents all the time. This was good news for Molly and Damas; it made getting him to take a nap much easier. However with him crawling now they had other things to worry about, he was never in one spot for too long so neither of them could take their eyes off of him… especially if he was in the garden. Once Molly had taken him out there in a stroller, thinking that he would stay strapped in the stroller she had turned her back on him for a moment to take care of the plants and when she had turned around- he was gone. She looked around for him and found him climbing on the barrier. She grabbed him before he could fall. She held the giggling baby, "Don't ever do that again Mar, you scared me."

She knew that Mar didn't understand that what he had done was dangerous or that his mother was upset, he stared to play with her locket. Molly smiled at him and let him see the picture inside it; he looked at the picture and put his hand on top of Damas, "Dada." He said.

Molly looked at her son, shocked, "Mar…"

He looked up at her, "Dada." He said again.

Molly couldn't believe it; Mar was talking for the first time, "Yes." She said, choking back tears of joy, "That's your dada."

"Dada dada." Mar said happily.

Molly closed the locket and went to find her husband. She found him walking out of the throne room; she walked up to him with Mar in her arms. Damas smiled at them, Mar reached up for him. Damas gladly held him, "Hi little guy." He said as Mar wrapped his little arms around Damas' neck.

"Dada." He said.

Damas looked at him, unbelieving that his son just spoke, "What did you say?" He asked.

"Dada." Mar said again.

Damas looked at Molly, "He's talking…" Was all he could say.

"I know." The two of them embraced each other as Mar kept repeating the only word he could say.

A couple of days later, Damas and Molly took Mar –who was chewing on a teething ring– out into the city for the first time. Molly pushed the stroller and Damas had his arm around her. Many people stopped to get a look at the baby, some people looked at the young prince and gave a friendly wave. At one point Mar began to mimic this and wave back, this made Damas and Molly very happy.

They walked, just enjoying the beautiful day and then the sound of barking reached their ears- they turned around and saw a croca-dog pup running up to them. The pup ran in front of them and sat in front of the stroller with its tongue hanging out. Mar reached for the pup. Molly took Mar out of the stroller and held him away from the stray dog, "Get!" She said, trying to make the dog go away.

"Molly," Damas said, "it's just a pup." He bent down to scratch the dog behind the ears, "You're a good boy." He said to the pup, which gladly wagged his tail.

Than a man came running up to them, the man had to catch his breath. From what he was wearing Damas was able to tell that this man was a dog catcher, he stood up. The man got a hold of himself and looked at the king, "Sorry," he said, "I've been chasing that mutt all day."

The pup hid behind Damas and whimpered. Damas looked down at it; the pup had its ears back and its tail between its lags, "Hold on a minute." Damas said to the dog catcher. He looked at Molly, "We should keep him."

"What?" Molly asked, "Damas you know I hate dogs. Plus I don't want a stray mutt anywhere near Mar."

"Molly, it's just a puppy. Come on, look at him." Molly looked down at the pup, Mar began to reach for him. Damas saw the way he was acting and smiled, "Mar likes him." Damas picked up the little puppy and held him close to Mar. The pup sniffed at the boy and then licked his face, Mar started to laugh.

Molly pulled her son away from the dog, "We are not keeping that dog." She said as she wiped Mar's face.

"Come on, Molly." Damas said, doing the puppy-dog-pout, it didn't help that the pup was doing the same thing.

"N-No!" Molly said, "No, we are not keeping…" She couldn't say no, not when Damas was looking at her like that. "Alright, alright. We'll keep the mutt."

Damas smiled and kissed Molly. Then he looked back at the dog catcher, "You can go." The dog catcher did as he was told. Molly put Mar back in the stroller and Damas put the pup on the ground. The pup walked next to the stroller, Mar kept trying to reach him but his arms were too short.

Molly looked at Damas, "So what are we going to call our new pet?" She asked.

Damas looked down at the pup, and smiled, "Mutt." He said, the dog turned his head to look at him.

Molly looked at Damas, "Really? We're going to call him 'Mutt'?"

"Well, that's what everyone has been calling him."

Molly looked at the pup, she had to admit he was cute and he didn't run off. Maybe this would be a good thing for everyone. Especially for Mar, he needed a friend and what better then a puppy he could grow up with? The family kept walking around the city with their new pet.

**Jet: Wasn't that cute?**

**Jak (Glaring): …**

**Jet: What's with you?**

**Jak: Where was Praxis in most of this chapter?**

**Jet (Going a little red): Most likely at the fortress.**

**Jak: Yeah.**

**Jet (Grinning): Sorry.**

**Jak: I might have to kill you.**

**Jet: But then I wouldn't be able to finish the story.**

**Jak (Going dark): That's the point.**

**Jet (Running for her life): But I have people that like reading this!**

**Dark Jak (Chasing after her): I don't care!**

**Penny (Shaking her head): Readers keep an eye out for the next chapter, at this rate who knows when it will be up. We'll see everyone then; let Jet know what you think about the chapter, all that good stuff.**


	11. First time for Everything

Chapter 11: First Time for Everything

**Jet: Okay so in the last chapter, baby Mar is cute and clingy. You know it probably didn't help that Damas and Molly left him with Erick for a night.**

**Jak: That's a scary thought, I hang out with Praxis and we don't want to kill each other. **

**Penny: Anyways, he also doesn't like to be in his crib and at one point he climbs out of it and crawls for the first time.**

**Jet: Hey Jak, here's something to think about. You impressed Damas before you were even a year old.**

**Jak (Blushing): …**

**Jet: Anyways, after that Damas gives Molly a locket with a picture of them inside it for their anniversary. Then a few months later Mar says his first word.**

**Penny: I thought Jak was mute until he was seventeen.**

**Jak: I did have the ability to speak before then.**

**Jet: Yeah, go a play the first game again. When Jak and Daxter save the red sage Jak looks like he is about to say something but Daxter cuts him off. Anyways, so after that Damas and Molly take Mar for a walk in the city and then a puppy comes up to them. Damas convinces Molly to keep the pup and that's where the crocadog the kid is with came from. Well that's it, on with the story.**

Damas was sitting at the desk in his study, pretending to work as he watched Mar play with Mutt. Everywhere Mar went, Mutt would follow. Mar had a little rubber ball that he would throw and Mutt would chase after and bring back. Damas smiled as Mutt brought the ball back and dropped it so Mar could throw it again. Mar looked at his father and started to crawl to him with Mutt following behind him.

Mar reached up to Damas, "Dada." He said.

Damas picked him up and let him sit on the desk, "What are you doing?" He asked as he started to tickle him, Mar just laughed. Damas felt Mutt paw at his leg and looked down at the pup. He had put the ball next to Damas' foot. He kicked it and Mutt chased after it. Then he looked back at Mar who had is arms out to him, Damas smiled and picked him up. He held his son close and kissed the top of his head.

Then the door opened and Molly walked in, Mutt ran up to her and started to run around her. Molly walked up to Damas and Mar and looked at them. "I thought you were working." She said. Damas gave her an embarrassed grin.

Mar looked at her, "Mama." He said.

Molly took Mar from Damas and rubbed noses with him. "Are you hungry?" She asked. Mar giggled so Molly took him out of the room to get him some lunch, Mutt following them. Damas looked back at the papers on his desk, he really didn't want to read another report on how there was a large amount of eco missing. So he got up and left the room figuring he could use some lunch too.

At the fortress, Erick was mad. It had been almost a year and the only thing that had changed about Jak was the small amount of hair that was growing on the end of his chin. Other than that he was the same as he was when he was brought in. Errol didn't understand, Onin had told him that Jak was the one, could she have been wrong? Errol looked down at Jak, who was screaming in pain as dark eco poured into his body. What was it about him that made it so the dark eco didn't have any effect on him?

"Dark eco injection cycle complete." A robotic female voice said, "Bio reading nominal and unchanged."

Erick glared down at Jak, "Why is it not working?" He asked, angrily. Then to let out some of his anger, Erick punched Jak in the gut, causing him to cough up some blood.

Errol looked at Erick, "Sir, if I may. He is the only one we've been trying this on. What if we try using someone else?"

Erick glared at Errol, "You said he was the one we needed. Now you think we should use someone else?"

"We know that no matter how much eco we put into this boy, he won't die. Let's try it on someone else. Just to see if it works the same way on others."

Erick looked back at Jak, "Very well."

Errol dragged Jak back into his cell and went to get another prisoner. He stopped and looked at a tall muscular man, '_He would make an excellent Dark warrior._' Errol thought.Then he saw another guard and called for him to open the man's cell. The guard did as he was told and he and Errol led the man to the Dark Warrior Project. The guard watched in horror as the prisoner was tortured. The screams ended long before the machine was done working. Erick and Errol looked at each other not understanding why the project had killed this man when Jak had been on the project for almost a year and almost nothing happened to him. The guard didn't say a word as he left while Erick and Errol tried to figure out their mystery.

The man stopped, sat down and took off his helmet. '_What is going on?_' He thought. Then another guard came up to him.

She took off her helmet and looked down at him with a worried look, "Torn, are you alright?" She asked, seeing how pale he was.

Torn looked up at her, "No, I'm not. Do you know what your father and Errol are doing?"

Ashelin shook her head; Torn looked at his feet not knowing what to say to her. She sat next to him, "Torn, whatever it is I'm sure it's for the best." Completely naive of the subject.

Torn looked at her disgusted, "You really think that?"

"All he wants is to end the war, so yes."

"You really don't have a clue about what he's doing, do you?"

"No. What is he doing?"

"Have him tell you himself." Ashelin looked at Torn as he threw his helmet aside in anger. "I'm done." He said.

"With what?"

"With all this, I'm quitting the guards. I don't want to be a part of this."

"Torn you can't just quit, you'll be put in jail."

"Ashelin, I'm sorry but I can't be a mindless soldier anymore. Over the last year the city has been getting worse."

"King Damas is doing all he can to fix that."

"No, he's not. If he was then maybe he would stop the Baron. But all the king seems to care about is his son."

"Mar isn't even a year old yet. He's only a baby, and he needs his father." Ashelin said trying to get Torn to see reason.

"So what? Is the city just going to have to deal with the Baron running it until the prince is old enough to take care of himself?" Torn asked, standing up.

"My father is not running the city." She said, also standing up.

"No, he's just handling the war, the prison and everything else the king doesn't want to deal with." Torn took a deep breath to calm down a bit, "I sorry Ashelin, but I don't want to told what to do by someone like your father."

"What are you going to do?" She asked, scared of what his answer could be.

"I'm not the only who has noticed that your father is taking over the city. I'll find the Underground and help them." He turned and started to walk away.

It took Ashelin a minute to figure out what he wanted to do. Her boy-friend was talking about a group of people that wanted to take down her father. But she loved Torn, what was she supposed to do? Making up her mind, she ran after Torn and gave him her communicator, "If you ever need me, call and I'll do anything I can."

Torn hugged her, "I love you." He said, as tears began to run down Ashelin's face.

Later on, Errol left the fortress, his sister had asked him to take his young niece Kat to the race track. Errol didn't have a problem with this because at the track there was a young beautiful girl who was a mechanic. Her name was Keira and Errol had met her about a week after Jak was thrown in jail. He was practicing his racing and she had caught his eyes and he crashed. Not too badly, his zoomer was in worse shape than he was, Keira had seen the crash and had come over to him. She offered to help him fix it and they got it back to working order in no time. They had become friends after that, but after almost a year of knowing her Errol found himself looking for any reason to go to the track to talk to her; even taking his niece with him.

Errol and Kat got to the track and found Keira in her garage, "Keira?" Errol called.

Keira came out from behind a green curtain, "Hey Errol, what brings you here?" She asked.

Errol shrugged, "Nothing much. Kat wanted to come to the track, so I thought the three of us could go catch a race."

Keira smiled at the little girl, Kat was a nice looking girl with orange hair and green eyes, "Hi Kat."

"Hi Keira." Kat said, "Uncle, we're going to miss the race." The toddler tugged on his arm.

Errol looked down at her and picked her up, "No, we're not." He looked back at Keira, "So you coming?"

Keira smiled, "Why not." She said, the three of them walked out of the garage and went to see the race.

Later that day at the palace, Mar was playing with Mutt while Damas and Molly watched as they sat on their bed. Mutt would walk in a circle and Mar would crawl behind him, every once in a while Mutt would turn around and lick Mars face making him laugh. Damas looked at Mar's crib then he looked at Molly, "Molly, I've been thinking. Maybe Mar should start sleeping in his own room."

"I think your right. His birthday is next week after all; he should have his own room."

Damas smiled at his son, "I can't believe he's almost a year old." Mar crawled over to his parents with Mutt following him. Damas picked his son up and set him on his lap, "Hey, little guy. Guess what, tonight you're sleeping in your own room." Mar just smiled up at his father while his mother ran her fingers through his hair.

Mutt tried to jump onto the bed but being that he was so little he couldn't get up. Molly looked down at the pup and smiled. She picked him up, sat him on the bed next to her and began to scratch him behind the ears. Damas smiled at her, she looked at him, "What?" She asked, smiling back at him.

"Nothing." He put an arm around her and kissed her forehead.

Then the door opened and Erick walked in, "I knew I'd find you in here." He said. Damas and Molly looked at him and smiled as he walked over and ruffed Mar's hair, "How's my favorite nephew?" He asked. Mar smiled up at him.

Later that night, Damas and Molly looked down at their sleeping son. Erick had helped to move the crib to Mar's new room and Mutt was laying next to the crib also sleeping. Damas kissed Molly and the two of them walked out of the room. When they were in their own room, Molly locked the door and smiled at her husband. Damas smiled back at her, pulled her close and began to kiss her. Now that Mar wasn't sleeping in their room they could do something they hadn't done for since before Molly had found out she was pregnant. Seeing as Molly had fallen under the same curse as every other queen of Haven… there was no risk of anything happening.

A week later, Molly was the first to wake. She got up, got dressed and left, taking care not to disturb her still sleeping husband. She walked to the room next to her's and opened the door. Mar had gotten out of his crib again and was sleeping on the floor using Mutt as a pillow. Mutt looked at Molly with his tongue hanging out and his tail wagging, Molly smiled, walked over to them and picked up her son. Mar began to wake up; he looked up at his mother with half open eyes, "Mama." He said.

Molly smiled, "Good morning, Mar." She kissed his cheek, "Happy birthday." She let Mar cling to her shoulder and walked out of the room with Mutt following.

Damas woke a little while later. He got dressed and after looking in Mar's room he figured that Molly had taken him to get something to eat. He went down to the kitchen and found Molly trying to get Mar to eat at least a little bit of mashed peas, but Mar wouldn't have it. Mar saw Damas and smiled, Molly turned around to looked at him also smiling, "Morning." She said, putting down the spoon.

Damas came over to them and ruffled Mar's hair, "Hey, birthday boy." Damas looked at Molly, but before he could to say anything to her, he felt a good amount of mashed peas hit his face. He looked at Mar, who was laughing. Molly was trying not to laugh but she couldn't keep a smile from stretching across her face. Damas playfully glared at Mar, "Did you just throw your food at me?" He asked. Mar just kept laughing.

"Maybe he's just not hungry." Molly said, taking Mar out of the highchair and cleaning the food off him.

Damas went to clean the baby food off his face. After he had it all off, he looked back at his son and wife. Mutt walked up to Damas and sat next to him, Damas knelt down to pet him. Mar got a little jealous that Mutt was getting more attention from Damas then he was, so he started to reach for him so Molly put him down so he could crawl to his father. Damas picked up his son and walked over to Molly with Mutt following him, the four of them walked to the garden to enjoy the beautiful morning together.

Damas wasn't planning about doing anything that involved the counsel or the war today; it was his son's first birthday after all and he wanted to spend it with him. Erick and Ashelin had decided not to go to work today, because it was Mar's birthday. That was one good thing about being practically family to the king of Haven; it was easy to say 'I'm not going to work today.'

Around midday Damas snuck off to his parents' old room, he opened the door and walked in. No one had been in there since his parents' death more than eleven years ago. He walked over to the dresser were a wooden box sat covered in dust. Damas opened the box and pulled out the seal that had once been his father's. He put the seal in his pocket and then looked at a picture that was next to the box, it was of Selena and Alexander on their wedding day. Alexander had his arms wrapped around Selena as she kissed him. Damas couldn't help but smile, he missed them but at least he knew they were together. He turned and walked out of the room.

Damas found Molly playing with Mar and Mutt in one of the reading rooms. Mutt would help Mar sit up and Molly would playfully push him down, this made Mar laugh. Molly looked at her husband and smiled. Mutt helped Mar sit up, but rather than wait for his mother to push him down again, Mar grabbed her shirt and pulled himself up onto his feet. Molly and Damas looked at their son; standing wasn't something new, he could stand up but not on his own. Molly took both of her son's tiny hands and started to guide him towards Damas. After a little while she let go of his hands and let him try on his own. Damas knelt down and reached out his arms towards Mar as he began to take his first steps on his own.

Mar walked to his father and Damas picked him up, proud that his son could walk on his own. Molly stood up and walked over to them, "Good job." She said, tickling Mar under his chin.

Damas smiled at Mar, "Guess what, I have something for you." He said, reaching into his pocket. He pulled out the seal, Mar reached for it. "This belonged to your grandfather." Damas said, "It's very special, you and I are the only living descendants of a great hero. This seal is a symbol of that." Damas put the seal around Mar's neck. Mar smiled at him, Damas couldn't explain how but he felt that somehow, Mar understood. Molly looked at her son and husband and smiled, she knew how long Damas had been waiting to give Mar the seal. Mar yawned and began to fall asleep in his father's arms.

Damas wasn't the only one who had something to give to Mar; Molly had found an old looking cap in the bazaar. It was a simple brown cap, nothing fancy but she thought it looked cute so she bought it for Mar. She put it on him, it looked cute and Mar seemed to like it. Molly couldn't help but to play with the small tuft of hair that stuck out of the front of it.

The next day Erick and Ashelin went back to work, by now everyone knew that Torn had quit the guards but that really didn't have any effect on anyone but Ashelin. She tried to hide her sadness but Erick could see it, and he hated himself because there was nothing he could do. Erick tried not to think about Ashelin, and focused on the project. Errol and Erick had tweaked the project and put three others on it, the three new victims didn't die and had better results than Jak, who no matter what was done to him just didn't change. Jak and the three others were kept away from the other prisoners and each other just in case something happened. Erick and Errol just couldn't understand why Jak didn't die or change but at least they knew one thing: the project did work so it had to be only a matter of time before Jak did start to change.

Time goes by, now that Mar could walk on his own there was almost nothing he didn't get into. If on the rare occasion Mar did manage to sneak off when his parents weren't watching him, Mutt would follow him and try to keep him out of trouble. Mar had figured out where the counsel room was and knew that if his father wasn't around that was where Mar went to look for him. Mar couldn't get into the room so he sat outside it and played with Mutt. After the first few times Molly had found Mar waiting outside the counsel room, she waited with him. But eventually she found that he wouldn't go anywhere until Damas came out so she started to let him stay there without her.

One day when he was waiting for Damas, Mar saw a little glowing yellow ball thing floating not too far away from him. He stood up and started to walk over to it, but Mutt stood in front of him and barked at the yellow sphere. "No." Mar said, Mutt stopped barking. Mar walked to the yellow energy and touched it, nothing happened. Mar took it in both his hands and laughed, it felt warm in his hands. Mutt sat next to Mar looking at the ball of light as Mar tossed it up and caught it over and over again.

Damas walked out with Veger walking next to him, going on about the catacombs again. But Damas wasn't listening, when he had walked out of the counsel room he saw Mar playing with a ball of yellow eco. Veger saw this and- for once- stopped talking about his twisted dream. Damas walked over to his son and knelt down, "Hey little guy, what do you have there?" He asked. Mar held out the ball of eco to his father, Damas couldn't even begin to imagine how it was possible for Mar to just hold eco in his bare hands or even how he had gotten a hold of it in the first place. Damas reached out to try to take the eco but it seemed to absorb into Mar's hands. All Mar knew was the thing he was playing with had just disappeared, he began to cry. Damas picked him up, "Hey, hey, it's alright. Don't cry." Damas turned to Veger, "Not a word about this, to anyone." He said, in almost a threatening tone. Then he started to walk away as Mar calmed down. Veger watched them go; was it possible that prince Mar _really_ had the ability to channel eco like his ancestor? Veger had to get his hands on the boy to be sure. He left thinking about what this could mean, he was definitely not going to tell anyone about this.

**Penny: Well… that was an interesting ending for the chapter.**

**Jet: Yes it was.**

**Penny: Jet, you do know that Jak is glaring at you again.**

**Jet: Yeah, I know. **

**Penny: You're not even going to look at him are you?**

**Jet: No. He'll be less mad at me by the time the next chapter starts.**

**Penny: Well for your sake I hope that's soon.**

**Jet (Nervous giggle): You and me both. So readers tell me what you think about the chapter, and keep an eye out for the next one. Oh but one thing I forgot, I got the HD collation and it looks better than I could have hoped. Form the 7****th**** to tonight (2/10/12) I've gone from start of the first game to the class three race in Jak II, go me. **


	12. The beginning of the end

Chapter 12: The begging of the end.

**Jet: Well, we're nearing the end of the story now. I have to say I'm a little sad that it's ending.**

**Penny: I know, this is a really good story.**

**Jet: Oh well. Recap time, Erick and Errol can't figure out why after almost a year the Dark Warrior Project has had no effect on Jak. Errol thinks they should try using other prisoner just to see if it has the same effect. Errol finds another prisoner and has one of the other guards helped him escort the man to the project. The guard is horrified by what he sees and leaves.**

**Penny: Turns out the other guard was Torn. Ashelin comes up to him and he tells her that he's leaving the guards and she gives him her communicator.**

**Jet: Later that same day, Damas and Molly are watching Mar play with Mutt. Damas thinks that it's time Mar was sleeping in his own room and Molly agrees with him. So Mar now is sleeping in his own room, which means that Damas and Molly have their room **_**all**_** to themselves now.**

**Penny: Jet you skipped the part were Errol took his niece Kat to the stadium and talked to Keira. For everyone who doesn't know –Kat was in the first story Jet did.**

**Jet: Anyways, jump foreword a week and its Mar's first birthday. Molly gives him the little cap that the kid had in Jak 2 and Damas gives him the seal. Then Mar starts walking on his own . Time passes and one day Mar is waiting for Damas outside of the counsel room with Mutt and then he starts playing with a ball of yellow eco. Damas comes out with Veger following him and both of them see what Mar is playing with. Damas tells Veger that he is not to tell anyone about his. And that's pretty much it; On with the story.**

A few months had passed since Mar had played with the little ball of eco and seeing that Damas hadn't seen him play with any more since then he didn't see any reason to tell anyone, even Molly didn't know. Damas didn't know how Mar had gotten that little ball of eco or even where it had come from- but seeing as nothing like that had happened again he didn't think he had to really look into it; after all, even though none of the other descendants of Mar had the ability that didn't mean that the potential wasn't there. So he didn't think much of it, Mar was only a baby and that could have just been a onetime thing. There was no reason to tell Molly, at least as far as Damas saw.

It was late, Damas was trying to get Mar to go to sleep but no matter what he did, the toddler just wouldn't sleep. Damas closed the book he had been reading and saw that Mar wasn't even **close** to falling asleep. Damas smiled at him, "You need to sleep." He said.

"No." Mar said, reaching up to his father.

Damas let Mar grab his finger, "Please go to sleep."

"No. Play."

"We can play tomorrow. But you have to go to sleep."

"Play." Mar said again.

Damas sighed and shook his head, "Not right now, we'll play tomorrow."

Then Damas felt Mutt pawing at his leg and looked at him, Mutt had his ball in his mouth and was wagging his tall. Mar looked at the dog and pointed, "Play."

"No," Damas said, playfully glaring at his son, "it's bed time." Mar just laughed and clapped his hands.

Then Molly walked in wearing a night gown, she walked up to her husband and looked at her son, "Mama." Mar said, now reaching for her.

"What are you still doing up?" She looked at her husband, "He should have fallen asleep an hour ago."

"I know, but he just won't go to sleep."

Molly looked at Mar and smiled; she picked him up and started to sing a gentle lullaby to him. Almost instantly Mar began to fall asleep, by the time she was done singing Mar had fallen asleep. Molly kissed her son's head and placed him back in bed and pulled the blanket over him. Mutt curled up under the bed and had also started to fall asleep. Damas smiled at Molly and the two of them walked out of the room and went to bed themselves.

The next morning, Mar got up and found it was still kinda dark. But that didn't stop him, he got out of his crib and went to the door. He had to jump to grab the knob and open the door, Mutt woke and followed him. Mar walked to his parents' room and again he had to jump to open the door, when he walked in he found that his parents were still sleeping. Mar walked up to their bed and poked his father, but Damas just kept sleeping. Mar climbed up on to the bed and started to bounce on it. Molly couldn't help but to smile a little, "Your son's awake." She said, not bothering to open her eyes.

"Before sun rise he's your son." Damas said, still trying to sleep. Mar tried to pull the blanket off of his father but Damas had a tight grip on it and Mar fell on Mutt.

He just jumped back up onto the bed and jumped onto his father, "Play!" He said.

Damas looked at his son to find him glaring at him, "Okay okay. I'm up, I'm up." Damas said half awake. Mar smiled and jumped off the bed as Damas stretched and got out of bed. Molly got up and took Mar out of the room with Mutt following and took him back to his room so she could dress him, so Damas could also get dressed. When both of them were dressed, Molly put Mar down. He hugged her leg and then began to follow Damas with Mutt running behind them; Molly just watched them go with a warm smile on her face.

They went to the garden and started to play hide and seek as the sun began to climb into the sky. However it was not a very sunshiny day, gray clouds hung over them threatening rain. Sure enough, it did start to rain; but rather than going inside Damas and Mar stayed out to play in the rain. Mar picked up a hand full of mud and threw it at Damas, hitting him in the face. It took Damas a moment to take in what had happened, he playfully glared at Mar, "Did you throw this?" He asked.

"No." Mar lied, giggling.

Damas smiled and knelt down to be more at the toddler's level, "Well if you didn't, then who did?" He asked, Mar just smiled. "You know what I think? I think you _did_ throw it." Damas wiped the mud off his face, Mar turned and started to run away but Damas grabbed the back of his overalls and splatted the mud onto his back. Mar looked back at his father with tears starting to fill his eyes, "Now don't start crying, you're the one who threw the mud at me first." He said, "Besides, we're only playing, right?" He asked. Mar smiled and picked up another hand full of mud and threw it at Damas. Damas wiped it off as Mar ran to hide behind a pot, "You do know that now you've just declared war?" Damas said. Mar laughed.

The two of them got into a mud war, eventually Erick and Ashelin came out looking for them. Damas and Mar looked at them with balls of mud in their hands, Damas looked at his son and then they threw the mud at the unexpecting victims. Both mud balls hit Erick, one of them got him in his one eye. Ashelin couldn't help but to laugh at him but she soon regretted it when Erick splatted the mud on her head. The two of them joined the fight and had a great time just throwing mud at each other.

Mutt was the only one who had enough sense to try to get of the rain and was scratching at the door to be let in; some stray mud shots covered his green fur. Molly opened the door and Mutt ran in and shook the mud off of himself; splattering it on the wall. Molly looked outside and saw what everyone was doing. She couldn't believe that the dog was the only one that was smart enough to get out of the rain and she also couldn't believe what a _mess _the four of them were making in _her_ garden. She walked out and picked up Mar who dropped the mud ball he was holding, "Look at you, you're a –" but the rest of her sentence was cut off because out of nowhere a clump of mud had hit the back of her head. She whipped her head around and saw both Ashelin and Erick pause- then point to Damas. All three of them had seen what Molly was like when she was mad- and really Ashelin and Erick would rather take on an army of Metal-heads then try to take on Molly when she was mad. But Damas just made a cocky smile at his wife, Molly walked over to him, put Mar down and glared at him, "You do realize that now you're dead."

"Oh I don't think so." Damas said, putting more mud in her hair. Molly glared at him, Damas just laughed, "What are _you_ going to do?"

Ashelin promptly picked Mar up and took him inside while his parents started a mud war of their own. She took him into the bathroom and started to give him a bath.

After a little while, Molly and Damas went back inside and got clean themselves. Afterwards they found Ashelin playing peak-a-boo with Mar in his room. Mar saw his parents and walked over to them, Mutt following him, Molly picked up her son and kissed him. Damas looked at Ashelin, "Where did your father go?" He asked.

"He had to go to the fortress again." Ashelin said, sadly.

Molly could hear the sadness in her voice, "Ashelin, what's wrong?"

"I think he's doing something horrible to the people in there."

"What- why?" Damas asked.

"Because… one of the guards quit because of something my father is doing. But I don't know what it is."

Damas had a horrible feeling he knew what Erick was doing, "No..." He said in such a low tone that Molly was the only one that heard what he had said.

"Damas, what is it?" She asked.

"No… no. I told him not to!" Damas yelled. Mutt got scared and ran under the bed.

Mar had never seen his father get mad like this before; he curled away from him and started to cry. Molly tried to stop the toddler's crying, "Damas stop it. Your scaring Mar."

Damas looked at his son seeing that he really was scaring him, "Hey, it's okay little guy." Mar looked at him and Damas wiped the tears from his face, "It's okay, don't cry." Damas took Mar out of Molly's arms.

Molly looked at her husband, "Damas, what is going on?" She asked as Ashelin got up and stood next to them.

Damas looked at his wife and then looked back at his son, "I don't know." He said and he set Mar down and began to walk away. Molly and Ashelin looked at each other and Mar just watched his father walk away.

Molly followed him, Mar was about to follow but Ashelin grabbed him and took him back into his room. Molly caught up with her husband and put a hand on his shoulder, he looked at her, "Damas, I have to know what's going on."

"I told you, I don't know."

"Well you clearly have some idea. Now tell me what it is."

Damas paused. "I think Erick is trying to make Dark eco warriors."

Molly looked horrified, "What makes you think that?"

"Before Mar was born, Erick came to me and showed me a diagram of something call a Dark Warrior Project. He said that it was the only way to stop the Metal-heads. I told him I didn't like the idea of turning men into Dark Warriors, and told him not to go thought with it."

Molly started at her husband, "You've been keeping this from me for almost two years?"

"We never spoke of it after that, I didn't think it was a problem. Not only that but at the time, you were pregnant, I didn't want you to worry."

"So you think that Erick is tuning people into Dark Warriors?"

"I afraid so. I don't want to believe it, but I don't know what else he could be doing?"

"It would exsplan why he goes to the fortress every day."

Damas wrapped his arms around his wife, he didn't want to talk about this with her anymore so he started to change the subject, "Molly, you're not mad that I kept this from you for so long, are you?"

Molly looked up at him and kissed him, "No, I'm not mad. You had your reasons and I understand, just don't keep any more seakerts form me okay?" Damas didn't say anything because he had another seakert he was keeping from her, he just kissed her again.

Erick walked back from the fortress a little later; it had stopped raining as he walked though the city streets. As he walked he thought about what had happened at the fortress that day; one of the prisoners on the project had died… only being little more than half a year on the project. So how was it possible that two men had been killed on the project after less than a year on it and Jak didn't show and change after a year and a half? It just didn't add up.

He got back to the palace and found Molly playing with Mar. She looked at Erick, picked up her son and walked away from him. As she walked she gave him a dirty look, Erick didn't understand what was going with her. He went to find Damas thinking that maybe he could explan why Molly seemed so mad. He found Damas down in the palace librey, he was sitting at one of the tables looking through an old history book. Damas heard him come in and looked up from his book, "Erick, I wanted to talk to you."

"What about?" Erick asked sitting down acrrosted from him. Damas put the book he had been reading on the table and pointed to the pitcher of the Precursor Stone. Erick looked at him, "A rock?"

Damas shook his head, "No. I've been doing a little resherch and I think if we can find the stone then we can get Mar's old gun to work. That way we'll be able to get into the nest to take down the Metal-head leader."

"Okay, I just see a few problems with that plan. One, we don't have a clue where the stone is. Two, even if we had the stone, do you really think the old gun will work after all this time?"

"I do have… some idea where it is."

Erick looked at Damas serpried, "You do?"

"Acording to legins the stone is down in Mar's tomb."

"Okay and the tomb is… where?"

"… I have no idea."

Erick shook his head and a laughed, "That's what I thought, you don't have a clue where it is."

"Erick if we can find the tomb I can open it, then getting the stone will be easy."

"But you don't even know where it is." Damas fell silent. Erick shook his head again, "It was a decent plan be we don't know where to even begin looking for the tomb. Plus like I said, we don't even know if the gun will work after all this time." Erick began to walk away.

"At least my plan doesn't envol torching people." Damas said, Erick looked back at him. Damas glared at him, "I told you not go through with that."

"Damas, we don't have a chose."

Damas quickly stood up, "There's always a chose!" He yelled.

"Not this time!" Erick yelled back, "Damas, while you've been here playing with your son, people have been dying because you can't do anything to stop the Metal-heads.

"And how many people have you killed with that project of yours?"

Erick glared at Damas, "What does that matter? At least I'm trying to end the war!"

Damas glared back at his friend, "Erick, I'm the king and as the king I'm ordering you to shutdown the project."

Erick turned and walked away without a word, '_Some king_.' Erick thought, '_I've been more of a leader to this city and the people know it. Maybe it's time for a change in power._'

Damas looked down back at the book, what had he been thinking? The tomb had been lost of years; no one knew where it was so how was he going to get the stone? He closed the book and went to find his son and wife.

Mouths go by, Damas and Erick had barely said a word to each other after what had happened down in the libery and Molly could tell that something was up. One night at diner, she looked at both of them as she fed Mar and saw them give each other small glares, "Aright," she said after a while, "why are you two acting like children?"

Damas looked at her, "What are you talking about?"

"You two have been acting like fighting ten year olds for mouths and I want to know why."

Erick looked at her, "It just a different of opinan."

Molly glared at him, "You're still using that project on the people in the fortress, aren't you?"

"At least I'm doing something." He said, glaring at Damas.

Molly shook her head and took Mar out of the high chair, "I just don't know how you can think what you're doing okay, Erick." She took Mar out of the room.

Damas glared at Erick, "I thought I told you to shut it down."

"I'm not going to get rid of the city's last chants."

Damas shook his head, "How well douse this project work?"

"I really haven't gotten it to work yet."

"So after almost two years, nothing has happened, I told you it would never work. How many people have died because of this?"

"Just two, But there is one man that has been on the project the whole time and nothing has happened to him."

"Nothing?"

"Nothing, just nothing. He hasn't died or changed he's just the same."

Damas thought about this, but then he quickly pushed it from his head, "No that doesn't matter, you have to stop this. After almost two years, you've done nothing but hurt the people in there."

"They're just prisoner, no one cares for them anyway."

"So what they're still people. If you can this to work are you going to start using it on the guards? Would you be willing to do that to your own daughter?"

"If it meant getting rid of the Metal-heads, yes."

Damas couldn't believe what he was hearing, "What's wrong with you? You're letting this war be an obsession."

"At least I'm trying to end it which is more than can be said for you."

"Erick, you can only say that so many times before it gets old."

"So what, it's the truth. You don't even have a plan."

"Yes I do, we can find the stone."

Erick shook his head, "Unless you all of a sunned know where the tomb is, I don't see how you plan will work."

"At this point it's about as good as your plan."

"No it's not, my plan will work."

"Your plan is going to just kill more people."

Erick shook his head, "You're wrong." He got up and left.

Damas watched him leave, '_What am I going to do with him?_' He thought also getting up and leaving.

The next day, Erick talked to Errol about what Damas had said. Not that Errol cared; he didn't see Damas as the city's leader anymore. He kept telling Erick that he should be the city's leader that the guards and the city would back him up on it. The more Errol talked about it the more Erick saw that he was right; almost no one beside Damas and Molly called him Erick any more, now everyone just called him Baron Praxis. But even so how was he supost to just take the throne, Damas' family had been ruling the city for five hundered years. Then Erick had it, he could use the Metal-heads, to get power. He told Errol about when the Metal-heads had taken him and his daughter to their nest and how they needed eco almost as much as the city, "We can use that." Erick said.

"But how?"

"A trade off, we let them attack the city. Then once I have taken power, we give them just enough eco to get them back off."

"But won't that just make it so they'll come back?" Errol asked.

"If we do this right, then we'll be able to control the Metal-heads. They'll only come when we tell them."

"And how will this help you become the rule of the city?" Errol asked, not really understanding the plan.

"If the city sees that the king cannot protect them, they'll scream for a new leader. Someone who can keep the Metal-heads away."

"And what will become of the king and his family?" Erick didn't answer, he didn't know what would become of them and at that moment he didn't really care. Not that he ever wanted anything bad to happen to them, Damas and Molly where after his oldest friends and Mar was like a nephew to him. Errol let the subject drop, "So how are we support to make this deal with the Metal-heads?"

Erick just smiled, "Leave that to me."

Later that night, Erick was walking around outside the city looking for Metal-heads. He had brought Errol along with him because if this didn't work he was going to need someone to back him up. They came across a group of flying Metal-heads, Errol pointed his gun at them but Erick just pushed it down and walked up to the Metal-heads, Errol following him. The Metal-heads didn't attack, they just looked at the two elves and then they picked them up and began to fly them to the nest.

The Metal-heads dropped them right in front of the Metal-head leader, in almost three years he had not changed at least as far as Erick could tell. Errol couldn't believe that he was standing in front of the Metal-head leader with fully loded guns and were not trying to kill it. The Metal-head leader bared his fangs in a smiled, "Welcome, Erick. Or should I call you the Baron?" Erick just glared at him, the Metal-head leader chuckled, "I'm aware why you have come to seek me out. You want to use my kind to take the throne for yourself. You have changed my dear Baron."

"Are you going to help us or not?" Errol asked.

"How can I help, the sheald wall keeps my kind out after all."

Erick smiled, "If the wall keeps you out then how did your kind get in three years ago?"

The Metal-head leader gave a small laugh, "Very clever dear Baron. Yes we do have ways of getting in and out of the city but we cannot use them all the time."

"And why is that?" Errol asked.

"Don't you think that if we used them all the time then our little tunnels would have been disvered by now?"

Errol didn't answer so Erick addressed the leader instead, "So If you already know then I need to tell you that if you do exscley as I say then I will see to it you get all the eco you need. I do have one other rquest that I know you have don't know."

"And what is that?"

"That no matter what the king and his family will not be hurt or killed by any of your kind."

Errol looked at Erick not understanding, what did he care what happened to the king? The leader just shook his head, "If you give us the eco we need, then we will do as you say. But if you want to keep the king and his family safe you will have to give me something else."

"And what do you want?" Erick asked, not sure what else the leader could want.

"I know that the king is looking for the Precursor stone, am I right?"

"Yes but what douse that have to do with anything?"

"If you want to keep the king and his family safe then you will get me that stone."

"The stone has been lost for years, how am I going to find it?" Erick asked.

"That is not my proble is it? Killing the descendants of Mar is something that is almost too good to pass up. If you want to save them then you will get me the Precursor stone."

Erick hung his head, "Aright, I'll get you the stone." Errol looked at Erick unbelieving, why did he care about the king and his family he was trying to remove them from the throne after all.

The Metal-head leader smiled, "Then we have a deal. My kind will began attacking the city and once you have the power you seek we will back off as long as you keep your end of the bargen." Then another Metal-head came up to Erick and handed him a holgrafck counakater, "We will use this to keep in touch." Then the flying Metal-heads picked Erick and Errol up and took them back to where they found them.

Back at the palace Erick was looking for Damas, he found him back down in the library. He was sitting in one of the chairs, reading more about the Precursor stone. Erick looked away from Damas when he looked at him, he had to make this believe abele, "Listen Damas I've been thinking, your right what I've been doing is wrong. I just wanted to see war to end and I lost myself, I'm sorry."

Damas smiled, "Erick, we all want this war to end. I'm just glad to hear you've come to your senses before you did something you'd regent."

"Yeah well, I just started to think that maybe you were right. Maybe finding the stone would be a good idea. So have you found anything new about where it might be?" Erick asked.

Damas just shook his head, "No I haven't found anything." Damas closed his book, "It's late let's get some sleep and we can start looking for the stone tomorrow." Damas got up and walked away, glade that he had stopped fighting with his best friend.

**Jet: Well just one chapter to go, and I got to tell you this chapter was hard to write mostly because there were so many moments where I could have had everything be okay and have Damas and Erick stop fight and really be friends again but I couldn't.**

**Penny: At least we get to see that even tough Erick is trying to take the throne he is still Damas friend and that he doesn't want anything bad to happen to him. but you know I thought Veger was going to be this chapter.**

**Jet: oh don't worry he will be in the next chapter.**

**Penny: Hey Jet, are you ever going to get back to about Lilly and her friends?**

**Jet: That's the next story I'm going to do. But here something, this story might have a sequel to it.**

**Penny: Going to wight about Damas' life in the wasteland?**

**Jet: No, what it's going to be is what Jak 2 is like though the kid's eyes. See that the kid will not be talking that will be fun. So everyone tell me what you think about this chapter and keep an eye out for the next chapter.**

**Jak: Jet I'm really going to have to hurt you.**

**Jet: What did I do now?**

**Jak: It's more what you're going to do.**

**Jet: I need to run form Jak now so I'll see everyone later. **


	13. An Unhappy Birthday

Chapter 13: An Unhappy Birthday

**Penny (Getting on a table): Okay, Jet is hiding from Jak right now so I'm going to do the recap. Damas didn't tell Molly that Mar was playing with yellow eco and strangely Veger wasn't in the last chapter. All Mar wants to do is play with his father and Jet managed to put a **_**Lion King**_** moment into the story when Mar went to wake up Damas at the crack of dawn. So after Mar had woken Damas up the two of them went to the garden, it started to rain and the two of them got into a mud war which Ashelin and Erick… -you know what, I'm just going to go back to calling him Praxis now- joined the mud war. Then Molly comes out and after Damas threw a mud ball at her the war is just the two of them throwing mud at each other. Then Damas finds out that Praxis is using the Dark Warrior Project, he pretends he doesn't know and tells Praxis that they could find the Precursor stone and when Praxis shoots down this idea he finds out the Damas knows what he's been doing. So after a few months later Praxis and Errol go to the Metal-head leader and make the deal we all know was coming but Praxis has one more thing to add: that Damas and his family are not to be killed. The Metal-head leader tells him that if he wants that then he needs to find the Precursor stone. So Praxis goes back to the palace and pretends to see the error of his ways and says he will help Damas find the stone, and Damas trusts him. Well that's it, on with—**

**Dark Jak: There you are Jet!**

**Jet (Running out from under the table): AHHHHHHHHHHHHH! Don't kill me! Don't kill me!**

**Dark Jak: Get back here!**

**Penny: You know it's a mystery how she had time to write this. On with the story.**

Two months had passed and Damas and Erick still had no idea where to even begin looking for Mar's tomb. Erick didn't go to the fortress every day now; that way Damas wouldn't think the Dark Warrior Project was still going, but he had Errol there, so just because he wasn't there that didn't mean that the three people on the project were not being tortured at that moment. But Damas didn't know that, for all he knew Erick had destroyed the project and neither of them were going to speak of it again.

It was late, Damas and Erick had been down in the library all day, looking through any of the old history books they could find. Damas was even looking though a book of old legends just for some type of clue of where Mar's tomb was, but it seemed that none of the books in the palace library had any information on where the tomb was. After a while, Molly came down with a tray of food and Mar following her; she saw the two of them sitting at a table, looking like teenagers who were trying to cram a year's worth of information into one night of study. Mar ran to his father and poked his arm, Damas looked at his son, "What are you doing down here?" He asked.

"Let's play." Mar said, tugging on his father's arm.

"I can't right now, Mar. Maybe later, okay?" Damas said, going back to his book.

Mar didn't understand, "Play." He said, still tugging on his arm.

Molly shook her head, "Mar, come on. Let your father work." She said, putting the food on the table.

Mar looked at his mother, "But…"

Molly picked up her son and began to walk away. Erick looked up and saw how sad Mar looked, he looked at Damas, "You should go play with him."

Damas looked up from his book, "I would like to, but we have to fine the stone." He said, grabbing one of the sandwiches on the tray.

"Damas, you've been down here every day for the last two months. When's the last time you did play with your son?"

Damas didn't say anything; he just went back to reading. Only now he was having a hard time concentrating on what he was reading, really he hadn't played with Mar at all since he had started looking for the Precursor stone. He felt bad about that, but what could he do about it? He wanted the war to end mostly because he didn't want Mar to have to deal with it. But still… He thought about how hard his father had worked to end the war and about how little time he had really got to spend with him because of that. Damas closed his book and got up to leave, it wasn't fair to his family for him to always be working. He had promised himself when Mar was born that he was going to spend as much time as he could with him. Erick watched him leave, happy that he could pull himself away from his work for his family.

Damas found his family in his room. Mar looked up and smiled, "Dad, play now?" He asked.

Damas smiled and sat next to his son, "We can play now." He said as he started to play with the little tuff of green hair that stuck out of the front of Mar's cap. Molly smiled as she petted Mutt's fur, happy that Damas had put his work aside for a little while to play with Mar.

That same night, Veger walked through the city streets, he walked into one of the rundown buildings in the slums and turned on the light. He sat at the table and began to go over the papers that covered it. He had to find out what it was about Prince Mar that allowed him to play with that ball of eco, he could be the key to finding the ancient Precursors. After all, the old legends said that Mar had ties to the Precursors. The legends said that the Precursors had granted him great powers equal to their own in hope that he would kill the Metal-heads. If Prince Mar had somehow gained the same power it might be possible for Veger to take that power from him, with that power he could save the world and then everyone would stop thinking he was crazy and if _**one**_ little boy was hurt or even killed in the process, who would care? The only thing that was standing in his way was how was he going to get the prince. There was no way his parents were going to let him just take the boy, if the King saw him trying to take the prince he would most likely kill him. But if the King wasn't there and it was just the Queen he might be able to take the boy. So there was nothing to do but wait, after all Damas couldn't be around forever…

A few days later, Damas was sitting in his study. For some reason the Metal-heads were making attacks on the wall almost every day, like they were looking for weak points. If something wasn't done soon Damas feared they would find one. He had to find the stone, fast if he could get into the nest; then he could kill the leader and take down the Metal-heads once and for all.

Erick had noticed that the Metal-heads were trying to get in as well, if he didn't find the stone by the time they got in then there would be nothing stopping the Metal-heads form killing Damas and his family. He had to find it, but if he saved Damas then what would become of him after Erick took the throne? And if anyone, especially Damas, found out that he had used the Metal-heads to take power what would happen to him? Maybe letting Damas live was a bad idea, but he couldn't kill him. Damas was his best friend; but after he took power he couldn't let Damas stay in the city, there was no way that would ever work. Damas and his family would have to leave the city forever. But where could they go? Erick looked out a window: he could see the ocean, he knew of a fairly large island about three hours away by air train. Haven city had been banishing their worst criminals there for years. Erick had never seen it for himself but he knew it was a large wasteland and he knew that if he sent Damas and his family out there then there would be little chance of surviving but at least there was a chance. If anyone could find a way to stay alive out there it was Damas. Yes, the wasteland would be where Erick would send them, they would hate him for it and Damas and Molly would never be his friends again but it was a sacrifice he had to make to end the war.

Somewhere around mid day Errol walked to the stadium to find Keira. He walked into her garage and called for her. She came out from behind her green curtain and smiled at him, "Errol, what are you doing here?" She asked.

"I just wanted to see you." He said as he pulled her close and smiled at her.

Keira blushed, "Errol… are you okay?" She asked, taken back by his sudden movement.

Errol smiled, "I'm fine now, that I'm with you." He put his face close to her so he was resting his forehead on her's.

She looked into his eyes and began to get lost in them. She began to move her lips closer to his when- "No." She said as she pulled away from him.

"Keira, what is it?" He asked, not sure what just happened.

She looked at him sadly, "Errol… you're a good friend. But that's all you can be to me."

"Why?"

"Because, I'm in love with someone else..."

"Who?" Errol asked. He knew that she didn't really talk to anyone and he knew her better than anyone in the city, who could she have fallen in love with?

Keira sighed, "I told you that I'm not from this time, that I grew up in Sandover. But what I didn't tell you was that I had two friends that I grew up with." Keira smiled, "One of them was a big mouth and a flirt and the other was quiet and strong. The three of us grew up together; my father raised all three of us, seeing that Jak and Daxter didn't have parents." Errol hooked on that last part, did she just say '_Jak_'? Keira kept telling her story, "Jak was such a nice guy," Keira wrapped her arms around herself as she felt tears begin to fill her eyes, "I always felt safe when he was around. I loved him so much… But when we came here, we were separated. I haven't seen him, Daxter or my father since." Her tears began to flow onto her checks.

Errol looked at her and let her cry, "What happened to him?"

"I don't know." She said, wiping the tears from her face, "But I know he's still alive. I know all three of them are alive."

"How?"

"I've seen Jak do some amazing things. If anyone can survive this city, it's him. He will find me and we can be together again."

"Keira, it's been almost two years. Don't you think if he was looking for you he would have found you by now?"

"He will find me."

Errol smiled at her, "I'll help you find him."

Keira's face lit up, "YOU WILL!"

"Yeah, if it will make you happy."

Keira jumped on him, wrapping her arms around his neck, "THANK YOU! Thank you so much!"

Errol smiled and wrapped his arms around her; he wasn't going to find Jak. If he was right then that man was sitting in the fortress and if anything he would die there. But Errol wanted Keira to be happy so he would pretend to look for him and when Jak did die from the dark eco then he would tell Keira and she would then take him. All he had to do was wait. But there was a chance that the man she was looking for wasn't the man Errol was thinking of, and if that was the case then he would have to find him and kill him himself, "I'm going to need to know what he looks like."

"Right," Keira said, going back behind the curtain, "I have a picture. Keep in mind it was taken a few years ago but I don't think Jak could have changed too much." She came back and showed him the photo. There were three people in it, two boys and one girl. Errol could tell which one was Jak, it was the same Jak that was in the fortress. Keira pointed out which one was Jak anyways and then Errol smiled at her and left, leaving Keira with false hope.

The next day Erick walked though the city just thinking about what he was going to do once he was the king, with the Metal-heads under his control he would be able to do almost anything. He could keep them away and if the people started to lose faith in him he could just have them attack, the war would be in his control and Damas didn't suspect a thing. He didn't know that the Dark Warrior Project was still operational; he didn't know that Erick was working with the Metal-heads and he couldn't even see that Erick was going to overthrow him. No between his son and his hunt for the stone, Damas didn't have time to look into anything else and that was why Erick needed to take the throne. Damas didn't know what he was doing; Erick knew what was going on in the city so why shouldn't he be king? As he walked through the streets he looked up at the palace just hoping that someday Damas would be able to forgive him for what he had to do.

As he walked he heard people talking about how they were scared, it wasn't a mystery that Metal-heads were trying to get in and with all the attacks on the wall people feared they soon _would_ get in. He also heard them wonder why the king wasn't doing anything to stop them. Little did they know that Damas had put Erick in charge of that, just another thing that showed how little Damas knew about what was going on.

But Erick didn't know that there was more that Damas had to deal with. Veger worried Damas; since he had seen Mar play with the ball of eco the Count had been acting different. The catacombs didn't seem to be his top priority now. After almost every meeting, he would ask Damas if Mar had shown any more eco abilities. Damas told him no, but Veger having such an interest in his son made him nervous to the point that he didn't want Mar waiting for him outside the counsel room anymore. So Molly kept him from going there, Mar didn't like it at all- but as time went on he got use to it.

Time passed, Mar woke early one spring morning. He got out of his crib and went to the door with Mutt following him. Mar opened the door and went to his parents' room, he opened the door and found them still asleep. Mar climbed up on the bed and began to shake his father, "Wake up. Wake up." He said as Mutt sat on the floor and barked loudly.

Damas and Molly woke up and looked at Mar. They couldn't help but to smile, Mar didn't know it but today was his second birthday. Damas ruffled Mar's hair, "Morning, birthday boy." He said as he got up.

Mar looked at his mother, went over to her and hugged her, "Morning Mar." She said, "Are you hungry?" She asked.

"Hungry." He repeated.

Molly smiled, got up and took Mar to get something to eat with Mutt following them. Damas came down a little later after he was dressed. Molly had given Mar some small slices of banana but it seem that Mar didn't wanted them too much; Damas watched as Mar threw some of the banana onto the ground- which Mutt was more than happy to eat. Damas came over and stood next to him, "Are you going to eat any of that?" He asked. Mar just smiled at him.

After breakfast, Molly and Damas took Mar to one of the sitting rooms and played with him. After a little while Ashelin found them, she had a small present for the young prince. It was just simple toy car but Mar loved it all the same. She sat down and started to play with Mar as well, but after a little while Damas started to wonder where Erick was, it was a bit odd that he wasn't there. "Ashelin, where's your father?" He asked.

"I don't know, I haven't seen him all day."

Molly and Damas looked at each other- both thinking the same thing; Erick had to be at the fortress still using the Dark Warrior Project. They looked at their son, they had to stop Erick but that could wait until tomorrow, it was Mar's birthday after all.

At the fortress, Erick was addressing the guards. Metal-heads had been sighted in the sewers; they were in the city. Whether Erick liked it or not he was out of time, if Damas and his family were going to have a chance Erick had to get them out of the city. He had to overthrow the king tonight. But to do that he needed to know that the guards were with him. What made him feel terrible was that Errol had been right, most of the guards were behind him, they were willing to turn their backs on the king and over throw him the moment Erick told them to. Erick made it clear that the king and his family were not to be harmed, that they were to be captured and taken to the wasteland. The few guards that where against him cried out against Erick's plan; Errol had them arrested and decided that anyone that was still loyal to Damas would be tossed out as well.

Back at the palace, Damas was walking down the hall with Mar on his shoulders. Mar held onto his father's ears so he wouldn't fall, Damas didn't mind. The two of them went to the garden and Damas put Mar down and let him run around. As Mar ran around he found his mother taking care of some of the plants, he ran up to her and hugged her legs. She looked down and smiled at him, then she picked him up and hugged him back, "What are you doing out here, birthday boy?" Molly asked. She looked at her husband and smiled, Damas went over to her and put an arm around her.

Mar yawned and Damas smiled at him, "I think it's time for someone to take his nap."

Mar looked at his father, "No nap. No nap." Mar said sleepily.

Molly smiled and she and Damas took Mar to his room. As they walked Mar fell asleep in his mother's arms, when they got into the room they found Mutt taking a nap as well. Careful not to wake either of them Molly put Mar in his crib and took off his cap, put it next to him and ran her hand though his hair, as she did she found just the smallest amount of blond at the end of his hair, it was almost unnoticeable unless the light hit it just right. She smiled as Damas put his arms around her, she looked at him and the two of them left their son and dog to sleep. The two of them sat on the window sill at the end of the hall. Damas had his arms wrapped around her, "I love you." He whispered in her ear.

Molly smiled, "I love you too." She said, rubbing her head against his neck. "I can't really remember what my life was like before I met you."

"That doesn't surprise me, you were five when we met."

"You know, I'm really glad that you ran into me that day."

Damas smiled and held her tighter, "Me too." He kissed her, "We grew up together and now look at us, we're married, we have a two year old son and we're the rulers of one of the powerful cities on the planet and you know what else?"

"What?"

"I wouldn't trade any of it for anything." Molly smiled at him and kissed him, just happy to be with him.

A little later, Mar woke up; he grabbed his cap, put it on and got out of his crib, waking up Mutt. Mar walked to the door and opened it with Mutt tagging along as always, he saw his parents sitting on the window sill and went to them. They looked at him as he reached up for them and Mutt sat on the floor, Molly was more than happy to pick him up. "Well hello, did you have a good nap?" She asked.

Mar nodded his head, "Mom, hungry." Mar said.

"Alright, do you want a banana?" She asked.

Mar stuck out his tongue in a gag, Damas couldn't help but to smile, "I don't think he likes bananas, Molly."

"Well then let's go find him something he will like." Molly said getting up. Damas and Mutt followed her down to the kitchen; Molly put Mar in the high chair and then grabbed an apple and began to cut it into small pieces. As she cut the apple she heard Mar laughing, when she looked she saw Damas playing peak-a-boo with him. Molly put the apple slices in front of Mar; he looked at it and then put one of the small slices in his mouth. Molly and Damas sat at the table while their son ate, the two of them couldn't help but to smile as Mutt looked up at Mar, whimpering a little as he waited for Mar to drop some of the apple for him to eat.

At the same time, Erick was walking back to the palace; as he walked he realized something that made him feel worse then he already did… he had completely forgotten that it was Mar's birthday. '_Why today of all days?_' He thought. He looked up at the palace knowing what he had to do to keep Damas and his family safe- but why did it have to be on Mar's birthday? At least they would be together. He walked with the sun setting behind him.

Erick wasn't the only one heading for the palace. Veger was also making his way through the city; he had a gun hidden under his coat, all he had to do was get Damas away from his wife and son then if it came down to it he could kill the queen and take the prince… then he could begin his experiments. When Veger got to the palace he began to look for the prince, if he was lucky then he would be able to take him without any one seeing. But every time he saw the boy, he also saw Damas and Molly. Lucky for him that they didn't know he was there; if there was one thing Veger was good at… it was hiding in the background.

Erick wished he could hide in the background, when he got back to the palace the last thing he wanted was to see Damas but he was not that lucky. Damas found him and asked what he had been doing all day. At least he could tell him that he wasn't using the Dark Warrior Project, not that Damas believed him. "Erick I told you months ago to shut that project down." Damas said, while Molly kept Mar behind her.

"Damas, I can't. We haven't had any luck finding the stone. If you could hear what the people are saying about you maybe you would be with me on this."

"No Erick, I will never be with you about this." Damas looked at Mar then back at Erick, "We'll talk more about this tomorrow but for now we'll forget about." He walked over to his son and picked him up.

Erick sighed sadly, "Alright." He watched Damas and his family walk away, knowing that they would never talk more about this. By tomorrow, Damas would be out in the wasteland and Erick would be the new ruler of the city. He didn't want to see Damas or Molly until he had put his plan into motion.

Veger walked around the palace waiting for his moment to strike. As he walked he found Erick talking to one of the guards, "Baron Praxis, what are we supposed to do when we have the king and his family? Do you just want us to kill them on sight?"

"NO!" Erick yelled, "They are not to be harmed, you and your men are to capture them and bring them to me."

"And what are you going to do with them?" The guard asked.

"I'm going to banish them to the wasteland." Erick walked to the window and looked down at the streets, "Do you know what is going on in the city right now? The people are choosing whether they want to join their king out there or stay here where it's safe."

Veger was no longer listening, the Baron was going to overthrow the King… if there was a chance of getting his hands on Mar then he had to tonight.

Erick didn't know it but there was someone else that was listening… Ashelin heard the whole thing. She had to warn Damas and Molly but then one of the guards came and had an assignment for her. She had do it fast so she could tell Damas her father's plans.

Later that night, Molly and Damas walked down the hall with Mar sleeping in Molly's arms and Mutt trotting along. They were going to Mar's room to put him in his bed but when they turned the corner they found two guards waiting for them. "What's going on?" Damas asked, putting an arm around his wife.

The guards pointed their guns at the royal family, "Baron Praxis has ordered us to take you to him immediately."

"What?" Damas and Molly asked at the same time. The guards didn't say another word, they began to use their guns to get Damas and Molly to move, Mutt growled a little as he was also forced to move. Molly looked at her husband, "What is going on?" She whispered, careful not to let the guards hear her.

"I don't know." Damas said, also being careful not to let the guards hear him. Damas looked at the guards form the corner of his eye; there were only two of them, he looked back at Molly, "Be ready to run." He whispered.

"What?" Molly asked.

But Damas didn't tell her what he meant, instead he turned and grabbed hold of one of the guns and began to force one of the guards back. The other guard was about to aid his friend but a sudden unexpected hit to his middle took him off guard. Mutt had jumped and rammed the guard as hard as he could. All the commotion had woken Mar up and he was now crying. When Damas had forced the guard onto the floor, he looked back at Molly and Mar. He could hear more guards coming; he took Molly's hand and lead her down the hall with Mutt following close behind. The family ran into a room and Damas shut and locked the door and for good measure they also hid in the closet. Molly began to try and calm Mar's cries, "It's okay Mar, don't cry. Everything is going to be okay." She looked at Damas once Mar had stopped crying, "What are we going to do?"

Damas opened the closet door and was trying to hear if anyone was standing out in the hall, when he didn't hear anything he looked back at his wife and son, "Come on." He said leading them out of the closet. He walked over to the door and slowly opened it, when he didn't see anyone he closed the door and looked at his wife, "Molly, do you remember when I told you about the safe house?" He asked, Molly nodded, "Do you remember where it is in the city?" She nodded again, tears filling her eyes, scared of what he was going to say next. "You have to take Mar there as fast as you can."

"You-you're making it sound like…" her tears began to spill onto her cheeks, "like you're not coming with us."

"I'm not." He said, choking back tears of his own.

Molly shook her head, she put Mar down, "What do you mean 'you're not'?"

Damas pulled her close and held her tight, "Don't worry, everything with be alright. I'll find you when this is all over, I promise."

She hid her face in his shoulder and clung to his shirt, "You will find us, won't you?"

Damas smiled at her weakly, "Molly you know that I would rather die than break a promise to you."

"That's what I'm afraid of." She said.

Mar didn't understand what was going on, he tugged on his father's pant leg, "Dad…" He said.

Damas looked down and picked him up, "Hey, everything's okay, Mar. But listen, I have to go away for a little while. I don't know when I'll be back, but until I get back I need you do something for me." Mar just blinked at him, "I need you to be brave and take care of your mother for me, okay?"

"Okay…" He said.

Damas looked at Mutt, "And I need you to keep both of them safe, alright Mutt?" Mutt barked in understanding, Damas made a brief smile. He handed Mar to Molly, giving her one last hug, "Don't be scared. No matter what happens, know that I love you and no matter what it takes I'll find you." He kissed her forehead. She looked up at him with tear-filled eyes and pressed her lips to his for just one last kiss. Neither of them wanted to pull away but the sound of guards approaching made them remember how much danger they all were in. They pulled apart then Damas walked to the door, gave one last sad look at his family, it broke his heart to see both his wife and son on the verge of tears. He had to force himself to look away as he ran towards the guards not daring to look back even for a moment.

As soon as he left Mar began to cry, Molly held him close allowing him to cling to her shoulder as she ran out the door and ran the opposition direction that Damas had gone with Mutt following her, Mar got one last look at his father as he ran down the hall, "DAD!" He cried.

Damas heard his son call out for him, the cry pierced him like an ice cold knife, but he couldn't look back he had to keep going, '_Be safe, all of you. I pray the Precursors will keep all of you safe until I find you.'_ Tears began to run down his cheeks as he ran and turned the corner, there he met up with the guards. They grabbed him and took him to the throne room.

Molly ran down the hall, she was so focused on getting out of the palace that she didn't see Veger when she ran passed him. The Count smiled to himself; Molly had her son and Damas was nowhere to be seen, this was what he had been waiting for. He stepped out of his hiding spot and followed her, waiting for just the right moment to strike.

Molly ran all the way to the slums with Mar crying for Damas all the way, Mutt staying close to them. After a while she stopped to catch her breath and to calm her son, "It's okay Mar, don't be scared. Everything's going to be alright." Mar calmed down a little bit and looked at his mother with tear-filled eyes. "We have to hide right now, your father will come and find us later but you have to be brave now." She wiped the tears from his face, "And you have to be quiet, don't say anything, can you do that for me?" She asked, she had a very calm voice; she had to be brave herself now for Mar's sake.

Mar nodded and smiled at his mother, who smiled back at him. She was about to get moving again when Mutt began to bark. She looked to see what he was barking at and saw Veger walking up to her. She breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, Count Veger, thank the Precursors, what is going on? Is Damas alright?" She asked, putting her son down.

An evil smile stretched across Veger's face, "He's gone."

Molly looked like her whole world was falling apart, "Gone? No… -NO! He can't be gone. He can't be…" she trailed off, not wanting to say what she thought least of all in front of her two-year-old son.

"I heard the Baron give the order myself." Veger said, taking pleasure in Molly's misery.

Mar held onto his mother's dress as he and Mutt hid behind her, "NO!" Molly screamed in agony.

Veger pulled out his gun from inside of his coat, "Now you have a few options, Queen Molly. You can give me your brat and live to suffer you're loss or I can kill you and take him from you."

"Wha- what do you want with Mar?"

Veger laughed, "I have plans for him."

Molly kept her son behind her and glared at Veger; if her husband was gone then she wasn't going to lose her son as well. "You'll never get him." She practically snarled.

Veger's grin intensified, his gun went off and Molly fell to the ground. She almost didn't feel anything; it was too quick for there to be any pain. The only pain she did feel was hearing her son scream and that sounded was almost distant.

"MOM!" Mar cried as his mother fell to the ground, he ran to her and shook her shoulder as tears ran down his face again. Mutt also pawed at her, wanting her to get up as much as Mar did.

Molly laid there barely able to move, she looked at her son, "Mar…" she whispered. But Mar didn't hear her, he just kept shaking her shoulder.

Veger came and grabbed Mar's arms and began to pull him away from his mother. Mar tried to fight back but what chance did a two year old have? Molly couldn't do anything but lay there and watch as her blood spilled onto the city streets. Mutt bit Veger's hand forcing him to let go of Mar. Mutt looked at Mar and started to tug on his overalls, growling at Veger when he tried to get close to Mar. Mar understood, with one last look at his mother he followed Mutt down the street. Molly laid there watching her son run as her mind faded into darkness.

Mar ran as fast as he could wiping his own tears off his face, he had to be brave because that was what his father had told him and he had to be quiet because that was what his mother had told him.

Veger looked down the street unable to see Mar; the boy had vanished almost instantly in the city crowd. He looked at Molly's body, he thought about shooting her again but it wouldn't do any good. He put the gun away and began to look for the kid.

At the same time at the palace, Damas was taken to the throne room, where he found Erick. The guards had cuffed his hands behind his back so it would be harder to fight back. Damas glared at him, confused. The guards threw Damas onto the ground at Erick's feet. He looked up at him, "What is going on?" Damas asked.

Erick made a movement to make the guards leave then he looked back at Damas who was now on his feet, "I'm overthrowing you." He said, it was clear that it killed him to say that but Damas either didn't care or was to mad too see it.

"WHAT!" He erupted, "How could you? You're practically my brother! How could you do this to me, to my family!"

Erick looked away from Damas, "Look around you! The guards are loyal to me, not you! I have them behind me on this, what does that tell you?" He looked back at Damas; any regret he felt was gone now. He walked closer to Damas "For the last three years, I've been the one fighting this war!" With every sentence Erick threw a punch, "I've been the one running the city! I've been the one keeping every one safe!" Erick's fist collided with Damas' face, sending him to the ground again. Erick grabbed a hand full of Damas' hair and pulled his face up so he was looking him in the eye, "And I've been the one trying to stop the Metal-heads." Damas didn't say anything; he just glared at Erick with nothing more than hatred. He couldn't understand how the man that was his oldest friend could betray him this way.

A guard ran into the room, "Sir, I'm afraid that Queen Molly has been shot. She might be…" Damas felt like his world officially collapsed. '_Molly… no you can't be… this can't be happening._'

"What!" Erick asked horrified, this was not what he wanted, "What of the prince?"

"He had disappeared, we can't find him."

A small amount of hope came to Damas; Molly was gone but Mar was alive at least he wasn't going to have to share his fate. Erick was happy to hear this as well but not as happy as Damas was, "Find him." The guard bowed and left.

Erick looked back at Damas, "So," Damas said, "What are you going to do with me?" He looked at Erick with a smirk, "Kill me?"

"This wasn't what I wanted, you have to believe me. I was going to banish all three of you, I know that's practically a death sentence but you would at least have a chance of living."

Damas half laughed, "Well your plan has failed." His smirk turned into a glare, "because of you, Molly is dead and Mar is on his own in the city. I'm the only one you managed to capture." Damas stood up and glared at Erick, "So where does that put us?"

"I'm still throwing you out into the wasteland along with anyone else that is still loyal to you. But I promise you, I will find Mar and then I'll find you."

Damas almost laughed again, "You will never find him."

"Damas, he is only two, how long do you think he will live on his own?"

"Long enough, you wouldn't believe the ability he has inside of him. _You_ will never find him, but _I_ will get him back."

Erick shook his head, "Damas, I never wanted this to happen."

"Stop lying to me, Erick! You wanted the city and you didn't care what you had to do to get it!" He yelled, "Well! Was it worth betraying me and killing Molly!"

Erick punched Damas' face again, this time he didn't fall to the floor. Damas felt the blood begin to fall out his nose as he glared Erick down. Erick called for the guards to take Damas away, they did. Erick looked away not wanting to see Damas' face anymore.

When Ashelin returned to the palace she saw that she was too late. She saw Damas being taken away. She ran over to them and looked at Damas, "I'm sorry." She said. Damas wasn't mad at her, he knew that if she could have told him she would have. Ashelin looked around, "Where's Molly and Mar?" She asked.

Now Damas broke down, he looked at the floor as his tears fell down his face, "She dead and Mar's missing."

Ashelin clapped her hands to her mouth, "No…" was all she could say before the guards forced Damas away from her. Ashelin didn't stand there long before she ran down the hall and found her father, she ran to him and punched him without hesitancy. He looked at her with no feeling on his face, "HOW COULD YOU!" She yelled.

Erick called for a guard to grab her, "Take her to her room and see that she doesn't leave." He said, looking back out the window.

Ashelin struggled with the guard holding her, "I HATE YOU!" She yelled at her father, "**I HATE YOU!**" She was taken to her room and locked in.

Damas was taken to the air train and was forced on, the other passengers stared at him, unbelieving that the king was being forced form his own city. As the train took off Damas looked at the city, when the train was high enough he was just barely able to see the Slums, Mar was down there with Mutt somewhere, '_I'll find you some day, Mar. Molly forgive me, I should have gone with you, if I had then you would still be here._' He thought as the city that had been his home was taken from his view.

Fin.

**Jet: By the Precursors, I am evil.**

**Penny: No kidding.**

**Jak: I going to kill you.**

**Jet: But Jak, now that I'm done with this story, I can get back to writing about your daughter.**

**Jak: Yes, my six year old daughter who has a boyfriend and is going to going off to school where I can't keep her safe. **

**Jet: You just want to hate me don't you?**

**Jak: Yep.**

**Penny: Well what were you expecting Jet? This is a sad story.**

**Jet: What, were you excepting a happy ending? All my stories connect so if you read my first one then you knew that Molly was going to get shot. Aside from that, the end should have been predictable. Here's something for people to do- read this and then go back and play games 2 and 3. Well readers, don't know when the next story will be up but if you like send me a review and then I can e-mail you when the next story is up. Thank to everyone who read this and thanks to my BFF for editing it.**

**Dark Jak: Hey Jet, come here.**

**Jet: Bye everyone! (Running for her life.)**


End file.
